Mutual Dreaming
by Flaming-Piano
Summary: When a terrible storm destroys the Big Donut, Lars and Sadie find themselves in an increasingly mysterious- and dangerous- situation. Soon the entire town will end up trapped in a nightmarish scenario, and waking up from a bad dream isn't always easy.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Whole: ?_?_?**

thud thud THUD

A single vibration. A sound, flowing through each piece. Separate, but once of a single consciousness.

She stirred. A singular instinct burst into life like a struck match, illuminating an infinite expanse of nothing. A single light.

The light grew, meek at first, but soon hungrily lapping at the rest of her. It brightened the dark and distant caverns of her disjointed cognizance.

She groped about blindly, seeking a concrete impulse to focus on.

Here she found _Hate._ It churned inside, outside.

There she found _Failure._ So complete as to be irreversible.

Everywhere she found _Isolation._ It lasted forever.

The sensations flowed in all directions like crude oil from the ground, igniting the flickering flame into an inferno. She felt these emotions burn into the most distant parts of her awareness, eradicating any sense of logic but infusing her with longing. Could this really be all she was?!

Now she found that she was clutching to a concrete form, and seized hold of that once-inert projection.

From deep beneath the ground, she arose. Sounds and images and smells filtered in like hazy memories, abstract and painful. She sought to tear them all down.

Somewhere on the distant horizon, there was a question. A yearning.

What was she really seeking? Before… had she not sought to create? Was this all that was left? Remains of something far grander…

Could creation arise from destruction? Of course… to destroy was to generate the raw materials for creation! For expression! To use symbols to express her most personal world… yes, that word, that title she had clung to, fought for! What was it?! What was she?!

She… she was…

Yes! Stunning! STUNNING! HOW STUNNING TO BE REBORN AS A CREATURE OF DESTRUCTION! A TRAGIC HARBRINGER OF CREATION!

She was the ARTIST!

She screamed, delighted to find that she recognized living beings all around her. She lumbered after them, recalling how she drew inspiration from their minds, tools with which she could shape something meaningful… she could tear down what they had wrought, and build it anew! Into a far more complex image. A worthy image. Her own image.

THAT was her goal. But first… she would have to clear out a new canvas on which she could work once more.

She rampaged with intent, carving a scar of hate into the world she had forgotten. Each piece of her vibrated to this tune of destruction, singing together, urging her to turn her strength against anything that stood in the way of this crude physical form. She could not make rational sense of the world… but she fought against it anyhow.

Some foolish creature had found its way into that path of annihilation, weakly lashing out. She trashed her body mindlessly, not knowing which piece was controlling what. It would suffice. It was satisfying enough.

Something snagged against the organism that was fighting her, and it appeared to flee. She felt savage joy.

But she suddenly met real resistance. These new agents of the world struck back against her, damaging her precious projection…

With her pieces so far away from one another, she found herself unable to resist the furious onslaught. Some buried memory stirred as she struggled to focus on her assailants, blurs of light and sound. She felt hate once more, burning her insides.

It was no use. The weak links her pieces had established were severed, and she found that her revived existence, so painfully rediscovered, was snuffed out as if by a single breeze. Smoothed to death.

The darkness rushed back in.

Emptiness.

Yet… a tiny glimmer persisted. She wasn't gone. Her form may be smashed, her pieces scattered but… a tiny cinder continued to glow, her fire not yet extinguished.

 _Here I am! The Artist! Listen to me!_

A voice sent into void. She recalled that memory of failure. Just like before… nothing would reply… she would forget all she had ever been and all that was to be…

Something answered.

Organic life. Pulsating persistently, adapting and changing. But it was more than just that, more than just muscle and bone and squirming cells- it was _life._

Thought. Consciousness. Rich, layered hallucinations that struggled together to form a being that was self-aware. Symbols strung together to make meaning. Emotions. Memories. Ideas.

But even better… they were being rearranged to form new symbols, new emotions, new ideas. Clumsily she reached out for them, finding purchase. Her cries echoed back, transformed by the influence of the surface they had struck.

Yes. Yes, this was _stunning._ This was something she could work with, even as a shred of her former self.

Using the image of the organic life she was clinging to, she could create herself once more.


	2. Dreamer's Entrance

**This story takes place almost immediately after "Chille Tid."**

 **Multiple POV**

 **Feedback of any type is always appreciated!**

 **Enjoy and THANKS FOR READING YOU ROCK!**

 **...**

 **Chapter 1: First Half: Sadie**

Sharp edges of shattered glass snatched the red rays of the setting sun and tossed them into the interior of the Big Donut. The front window had been blown apart by a huge glittering monster, some kind of gem beast. Just a few hours before, a monster that had been living beneath the Big Donut finally made an ugly entrance into the human world. It was a pretty typical event in Beach City, handled with no amount of subtly by the Crystal Gems.

But now the struggle was over, and ordinary citizens had to sweep up the supernatural path of destruction.

Sadie tilted a dustbin full of glass into the overstuffed garbage bin behind her workplace. She sighed deeply, the spent adrenaline of the monster attack leaving her feeling as bruised as the store the creature almost destroyed. She headed back inside for another round of pick-up, considering how at least she would at least have the next day off. Probably.

Lars was sitting at a table on his phone, long legs propped against the table's edge as he rocked the chair a bit. He was taking yet another "break," and Sadie didn't have the energy to motivate both her slacker co-worker and herself.

As she set to carefully wiping down the now glass-free tables, she suddenly winced as she bumped her left arm up against the table's edge. Confused as what caused the pain, she examined her skin and remembered. It was a very shallow cut, but it sure hurt like-

"Hey. You ok?" Lars quickly glanced back to his phone as Sadie turned to reply, trying to look disinterested.

"Ya, i'm fine." She said briskly, knowing that Lars didn't desire conversation, but now that communication was open…

"It's just this cut that monster gave me when it busted in here." She continued. "It-"

"That slow octopus bug lookin' thing?" Lars was glaring at her from behind his phone. "It actually got you?"

"Ya, it cut me with one of those arms. I think you were running away at the time." Sadie replied in a matter-of-fact manner.

For an awkward moment, the conversation seemed over.

"Get the first-aid kit." Lars suddenly ordered, and Sadie was rankled by his tone.

"It's not deep, Lars. I don't need any first aid." she snapped.

Lars rolled his eyes and stood up with a sigh, stomping to the back of the store and returning with the white and red medical kit. Wordlessly, he opened it up and approached Sadie with a roll of medical tape and some disinfectant.

She tentatively held out her arm, Lars generous behavior bringing a fluttering nervous in her chest. This wasn't like him. And yet…

His long fingers and precise hands made him excellent at treating injuries like this. He'd wrapped Sadie's arm before, in just the same manner, back on that island… the memories made Sadie hot with a complex embarrassment. He'd never allowed himself to get this close to her since that incident.

 _And with good reason._ Sadie thought darkly.

As Lars finished binding the long, thin cut that ran from her palm to her elbow, Sadie swallowed the stinging pain the wound caused when touched. It really wasn't a serious injury, but she might want to make sure she didn't get a scar on her arm to match the one on her cheek.

"Thank you, Lars." She said curtly, and he yanked his hands away from her, suddenly clumsy. She meet his eyes for a second as he backed away to return the first aid kit, waving his arm instead of verbalizing a "your welcome."

As he strolled away, he suddenly leaned down to pick up a tiny shard of colored glass off the floor that Sadie had somehow missed.

"There," he grumbled. "Now you can't say I didn't help with the cleanup."

Part of her wanted to offer an honest comment about his sudden act of goodwill, but she bit it back. Instead she sat, overwhelmed with old emotions and memories of the ill-tempered clerk that she had been trying to distance herself from ever since the island disaster. That he cared enough about her to treat her injuries like he had before- she couldn't help but feel a flash of hope again, bright enough to banish the shadow of guilt that had been following her for weeks.

Gently she ran her fingers over her wrapped arm, the sharp pain feeling distant and insignificant. Maybe time really could heal all wounds.

 **Chapter 1: Second Half: Lars**

Ears blasted with the awesome serenade of punk rock from his vintage headphones, Lars had managed to find a moment of true peace in his lame shift at his lame job.

He leaned up against the glass donut display case, tilting back in his chair that technically wasn't allowed behind the counter, spreading his legs across said counter. Distantly he hoped this display would invite Sadie to complain at him. Peaking one eye open, he glanced around for his partner in this horrible part-time crime.

The shop had re-opened this week, the damage from that crazy monster nearly erased. It was only the start of a second week since that weird incident, forgotten quickly by citizens adjusted to the supernatural.

Flyers adverting the "Beach City Parade" sat in a pile next to his feet. He was supposed to hang them up around the inside of the shop. The parade helped "promote a sense of community in the town" and give bored tourists something to look at. Needless to say, Lars would not be there. He had left the flyers touched, knowing that Sadie would get around to it.

He peeked one eye open to look for Sadie, who apparently wasn't in the front of the shop. He waited through the next song, but an external sound caught his ear during a bridge of silence.

He furrowed his brow, was that Sadie? Like… crying or something? It sounded like she was in the bathroom… and not happy.

Slowly and nervously he shuffled to the girl's restroom, loitering in front of the forbidden door. He could hear muffled sounds; cursing and groaning. His imagination certainly ran wild, but in the back of his dirty mind he was worried.

"Uhhhh… Sadie? What're you… doing in there?" He called with hesitation.

After a pause, she replied.

"Lars, could you come in here? I need help."

Lars could feel his face flush red, and he was the only one to bear witness to his own intense embarrassment. He leapt back from the door.

"Are you stupid?" He stammered. "I'm not going in the GIRL'S restroom!"

He heard muttered curses from behind the door, and Lars willed her to please, come out and stop acting insane.

"Larssss…" Sadie called, her voice thick with frustration.

But the door swung open, Sadie pushing it aside with her shoulder. Lars sighed with relief, but quickly started to hold his breath once more when he saw that Sadie was clutching her left arm, face twisted in pain.

He _had_ noticed that Sadie hadn't taken off the wrap he had originally administered a full week ago. She had acted so touchy when he had helped her the first time, the thought of it made him too embarrassed to adress it again.

"What is wrong with you?" Lars said, stepping back, regretting not asking sooner.

"I don't know!" She cried. "It- I can't see right, I keep getting these weird spotters in my eyes and I've got this massive headache…"

She sighed, composing herself, the story pouring out and her voice calmed. "I took some pain meds, but I thought I was going to pass out for a second there. I feel all right now though."

"You should go to a doctor, Sadie!" Lars blurted, clenching his fists.

Sadie leapt into the chair, shaking her fluffy head. "I did." She said, "They told me I'm having migraines." She set her palm to her forehead, leaning on the counter with closed eyes.

Lars couldn't think of much else to say.

"That really sucks."

"But you're on my chair." He added after a pause.

Sadie smiled at him; everything was cool again. "Come and get it then!" she challenged.

Lars forced his bony behind onto half of the small stool, securing his feet to the bottom rung. Sadie didn't budge; but he hadn't expected her to. While it was an uncomfortable arrangement, it wasn't… bad or anything. The thin wisps of Sadie's hair brushed up against his arm, and he enjoyed the closeness in spite of himself.

"Sorry for asking you to go into the girl's restroom," Sadie apologized, but there was a taunt hidden in the rise of her voice.

 _Wow. Way to ruin it._

"Ok, bye then." Lars leapt off the stool and cranked up his tunes again, grabbing another stool and settling back into his relaxed position.

Even over the blasting drums and electric guitar, Lars noticed the deep bass of distant thunder, and opened his eyes to see dark purple clouds emerging over the ocean through the newly installed windowpane. Awesome.

He noticed that Sadie was trying to say something, but was no longer interested, caught up in the trance of his own mood and the hum of his music. His stressful concern for Sadie was once again locked away in the back of his mind, where it belonged.

He closed his eyes and chased sleep, preferring his own reality to that of others.


	3. Rising Storm

**Chapter 2: First Half: Lars**

A terrible roar shuddered through the entire Big Donut shop.

Lars leapt back into the waking world, heart pounding. He saw Sadie rushing away from the windows, clearly fearing that the high winds would shatter them. Even as a native of a seaside town, Lars had scarcely seen such a furious storm. The sky outside looked black, and he could hear the angry growl of the ocean right at their doorstep.

"Lets get into the safe room!" Sadie howled over the storm.

"Where is that?" Lars yelled back, yanking off his headphones.

Sadie gave a weird smile. "It's the GIRLS RESTROOM!" She laughed.

"Liar!" Lars howled, but Sadie grabbed his wrist and tried to drag him away from the counter.

Now Sadie frowned. "No, I'm serious! You wanna see the booklet? It's the safest room in the entire shop. No outside walls. Did you ever read those emergency drills?"

"Of course I didn't! Lame!" Lars screamed, resisting Sadie's tug.

A loud CRACK echoed through the building as a chunk of debris slammed into the window, bouncing off thick glass surface as it was sucked back into the storm.

Lars forgot about why he was afraid of the girl's bathroom and rushed after Sadie.

Breathing heavily, the two clerks composed themselves as they both hoped the "safe room" lived up to its title. Lars was starting to wonder if this WAS a lie and a trick; to get both of them trapped in the same space for a while…

Lars moved away from Sadie and stood stiffly, noting that the lack of urinals was the only real difference from the guys restroom. It smelled a little nicer too.

"Well, I guess it's ok if the only girl in here is _you."_ Lars muttered, and Sadie gave him that annoying sideways glance.

"Who would you prefer?" She said curtly, taking Lars by surprise.

"What, I…" Lars really didn't like where this seemed to be heading. Why couldn't she just shut up and stand there?! He wished he hadn't left his headphones behind in the excitement.

A huge clap of thunder made him jump, and his felt his face flush red with embarrassment. But Sadie didn't seem to notice, face downcast, picking at the wrappings on her arm.

Minutes passed, the wind and water growing bored and moving along. Frustration had slowly gotten the better of Lars, and he wanted _out_ of the bathroom. But he also didn't want to face the storm. He'd let Sadie do it.

And soon she did, glancing at him as she strolled to the door and pushed it open.

She made a horrified gasp, almost falling back into the bathroom.

"Oh my god…" she breathed, "Lars, come look…"

Lars peered over her blonde head, and the sight of what remained after the storm made him aghast.

The Big Donut had not survived this one. It was if it had been lifted away by a giant, the sands of the beach running over the indoor flooring. You could actually see the side of the hill behind Steven's house. Chunks of wood and metal, large and small, littered the ground. Lars recognized a mangled beach umbrella and his stool lying abandoned in the distance.

The intensity of the damage seemed impossible, yet there it was, stretching out before them with an oddly inspiring glory beneath a mellow gray sky.

Lars felt a cold sweat breaking out all over his body.

"This can't be real."

 **Chapter 2: Second Half: Sadie**

Sadie gazed in awe at the remains of her workplace, torn down to the foundation by wind and water. Soggy donuts lay strewn about. Frozen treats melted away into the sand. The Big Donut sign had been felled.

Lars stumbled past Sadie, his arms at his side as he tried to take in the horrifying scene. Sadie worried that he would collapse from shock. He had pulled out his phone and started frantically dialing.

"Crap!" Lars hissed. "No bars. Always, no bars!"

"The cell towers must have gotten knocked out…" Sadie replied, wishing she could call her mom and make sure she was alright. Mom was a tough woman, but just the thought of losing her…

"It's Steven!" Lars suddenly gasped, straining his neck to look up the hill. Sadie followed his gaze, and saw that Steven Universe appeared to be walking up the hill to the lighthouse at its top. "Hey, Steven!" Lars screamed, his voice hoarse.

"Steven! Wait!" Sadie joined in, and the pair started up the hill towards him as he disappeared into the lighthouse. Taking action gave Sadie a solid point of reference in the disaster. Steven and his gem family might know something about the cause of that freakish storm, and might even offer to help with recovery.

Panting, they reached the top of the hill, approaching the lighthouse with some trepidation.

Sadie glanced again at Lars, wondering what memories he was confronting by coming here. The last trip they took to the Lighthouse, a gem monster had nearly killed Sadie. Even worse, the entire situation had been horribly awkward, and Lars had acted like a tool the entire time. But she knew that their friend, Ronaldo, hung out here a lot, and it wasn't a bad place to regroup.

"I hope Ranoldo is ok." she said, and Lars just made a dismissive click of his tongue.

"If he's in here he should be fine. This thing looks untouched!" Lars ranted, and Sadie noticed how right he was. There wasn't a dent on the lighthouse!

"Steven!" Sadie called, pushing open the door the musty old lighthouse. Sandy dust caught the dim sunlight, brushed aside as Lars and Sadie began heading up the creaky stairs.

A hoarse scream echoed from the higher levels, and Lars nearly sent them both tumbling to their deaths as he snatched Sadie's arm and reared back in an instinctive motion of fear.

Ronaldo came barreling down the stairs, grimacing in fear, his curly yellow hair bouncing wildly.

"They're coming!" he cried. "Sorry, but you gotta get outta the way!" He crammed Lars and Sadie aside and continued his flight.

"Wait! Ronaldo, stop! What's coming? We can help you!" Sadie called after him, frustrated but excited.

"THEM! The Snepole!" He sounded genuinely terrified, but Sadie was miffed.

"What did he say? Snee-poles? COME BACK!" Sadie started back down the stairs, but paused when Lars didn't follow.

"Are you SERIOUS?!" Lars snarled. "It's just some dumb thing he MADE UP. It's not real…"

"He looked so afraid though…" Sadie mused, but Lars snapped back.

"It's _snake people_. Like… the words snake and people mashed together. It's freakin' stupid! He's got mental problems."

"Oh ya!" Sadie suddenly had a flash of memory. "It's on his blog! He thinks they are running the country or something." She laughed. "It's kind of funny, actually, how seriously he takes it, like a little kid or…"

Lars was frowning at her, looking furious. "Y-you read his blog?" He stammered.

"Well, ya I skimmed over it. It's… kinda weird?" Sadie shrugged, and Lars frowned harder. Was he really _jealous?_ Lars didn't have any blogs that she knew of, so he couldn't complain about her not reading _his_ blog.

"Steven, are you in here?" Sadie shifted the focus of their attention, but there was no reply.

"Ugh, this is so WEIRD, I hate this!" Lars was still grumbling.

After exploring the lighthouse and finding nothing, they headed towards town. The destruction seemed concentrated near the shore, but as they got closer to the towns center, the patterns of damage seemed random. Only the Big Donut was utterly trashed.

The strangest part was the silence. Sadie felt as if she was walking into the aftermath of an apocalypse; with no human survivors.

"Where the heck IS everyone?" Lars wondered aloud, but he kept his voice down, keeping with the mood.

Sadie couldn't answer that for him. Shouldn't the town's people be outside, surveying the damage and gathering with friends to face this mess? Was there some place to go that only they had not been informed of? Sadie half-expected a zombie to come shuffling around a corner, and held her breath in the hopes of seeing a familiar face among the suddenly unfamiliar landscape.

As they approached the shattered windows of the Funland arcade, a loud crack made them both jump. Lars grabbed Sadie's shoulders again, and she felt the strength of fear in his grip.

"It's ok." She whispered, concerned about calming him down. Her rational mind knew that the sound had to be another citizen, crunching through some rubble…

"I AM ok!" Lars jumped back angrily, and Sadie followed suit. An argument looked set to break out, but Sadie never got a chance to start it.

A reptilian hissing filled her ears as a large shadow charged towards them, scales gleaming. Sadie leapt aside, but a thick tail crashed into her body and sent her skidding across the sidewalk. Somewhere she heard Lars screaming in horror.

Dazed but not done, Sadie got to her feet with a grunt. She scanned the ground for any kind of weapon she could find; something to defend them with, a pointy stick, a shard of glass, _anything…_

YES! Lucky! She wrapped her fingers around the handle of a broom that must have been pulled from a business on the sidewalk.

Lars was cowering in the street, holding his hands over his face as the creature opened his massive jaws and hissed at him. Why wasn't he running?!

"Over here!" She screamed, and thrust the handle of the broom into the monsters side. She felt pure exhilaration; fear and excitement and urgency, as the thing swung its massive head around to face her.

Huge yellow eyes with slit pupils stared right into the bottom of her mind. For a moment she was almost transfixed, but she heard Lars desperately call her name.

"SADIE!"

Furious that she wasted even a second, she brought the broom across the monsters snout with a yell. It hissed angrily, leaping back. Sadie raced over to Lars, standing over him protectively, even as he struggled to his feet. She held the broom like a spear, the hunter's stance familiar even now.

The creature lifted its head, opened its jaws, and gave a long, high hiss. Seemingly from nowhere, three more of the things raced out from the shadows, immediately and neatly surrounding the two humans.

Back to back, Lars and Sadie faced down this impossible threat.

Their attackers where about the height of an average male human, but the torsos gave way to oversized reptilian heads. They possessed no arms, yet tattered clothing clung to their bodies. They balanced on clawed feet, long tails tapering out of torn jeans and lashing about behind them.

"It's the Snepole." Lars stammered, voice cracking in disbelief.


	4. The Edge

**Chapter 3: First Half: Lars**

Mind blank with fear, Lars took in the sight of all four freakish reptilian hybrids. One or two? Maybe. But FOUR? There was no way he and Sadie could ever hope to survive.

"We're gonna die." He croaked, feeling suddenly furious. "Imaginary snake people are gonna kill us. I can't-"

The screech of a tires and an otherworldly, echoing voice caught the entire groups attention. The Snepole turned towards the sound, forked tongues flickering.

"mayor DEWY! mayor DEWY! mayor…"

The Beach City mayor's campaign van was hurtling down the street like some kind of deranged ice cream truck, and it was driving straight towards them.

"Ok, instead the _Major_ is gonna kill us?!" Lars howled. How could he get out of the way when monsters surrounded them on all sides?!

"C'mon!" Sadie tapped his arm, leaping for a small opening she had cleared by swiping her broom. Apparently they were going to try and escape anyway, ok, sure! Closing his eyes, Lars took a huge step after her, expecting long fangs to sink into his unprotected body.

A sickening thud and angry hiss followed as the van screamed to a halt, slamming into one of the Snepole that had been attempting to stare the van down. The bipedal snakes twitched their tails and screeched, the injured member leaping to its feet and shaking off the impact.

Lars shuddered as it whipped its head back to stare at them hungrily. But the monsters choose to flee; a pack of disappointed predators. The van had stopped, the front crushed in by the impact of the beast.

Lars and Sadie stood in stunned silence, now fearful of who or WHAT might come out of that van. Lars narrowed his eyes as he heard a faint, pathetic sound behind the door.

Sadie broke the trance and stepped forward, calling plaintively.

"Mayor? Is that you? Are you ok?" She stood on her toes to look in the window, just as the door opened.

"Sadie…!" Lars hissed, wishing she wasn't always so brave, but he was glued to the spot.

Mayor Dewy, in all of his middle-aged-white-male-politician glory, came pouring out of the drivers side, sobbing with embarrassing abandon.

Sadie gave Lars a wide-eyed "what the heck?" stare, and they shared a moment of mutual confusion.

"Uh Mayor…" Sadie tentatively stepped forward, gently placing a palm on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

It was amazing how she managed to talk to people like that. The sight of the blubbering old man made Lars want to bolt like the Snepole had.

"I…" The Mayor gave a snotty sigh, rubbing his seeping face so he could speak. "I… I… I LOST MY JOB! AHhhhaha whhhyyyy…ohhh what do I do now-how-how-hooww…" He began to sob again, burying his face in his suit.

Sadie's thick eyebrows had risen up so high Lars thought they would evacuate her face.

"So you're not… the Mayor… anymore?" Sadie's soft tone vanished; eclipsed by surprise. Former-Mayor Dewy just continued to sob, nodding his head.

Lars blurted out a question, "You saved us from those… things, though. Are _they_ why you lost your job?"

Dewy started at Lars. "W-what?"

"The… umm, he means the... Snepole. The thing you just ran over? They…" Sadie started into an explanation of their situation, although it seemed like a waste of time to Lars. He started to pace, studying the sharp footprints of the Snepole in wonder.

Without a single warning, everything suddenly started to get very hot. The air shuddered with a wave of heat, and Lars stepped back from the arcade they where loitering in front of. Sadie seemed to notice too, wiping a hand across her sweating forehead.

"Dang, why is it-" Lars began, but was quickly silenced by what happened next.

The Funland Arcade, a place Lars had enjoyed since he was a dorky kid, exploded into a fantastic fireworks show. Lars, Sadie, and Dewy fled with hands over their heads, cowering behind the van. Although Lars had not forgotten that gas powered vehicles often explode when exposed to fire; the instinct to hide was more powerful than reason. A chunk of the arcade's neon sign collided with the big plastic Mayor head on the van's roof, sending it crashing beside the shocked group of survivors.

"AHHhhhhhh!" The sound of a manly yell brought the group back around, and Lars saw the owner of the arcade, a big dude who's name that Lars couldn't recall in this challenging moment, brandishing a fire extinguisher at the harrowing inferno.

"My business! My livelihood! MY CUSTOMERS!" The man was furious, red in the face as he swept the stream of foam back and forth across the fire. But anyone could see that the tiny weapon stood not a single chance against this invincible foe. The group watched in horror, but what could they do to help?

Mesmerized as he was by this scene, Lars couldn't help but start to notice a thin wailing that started echoing down the street. The painful crying was somehow louder than the roar of the flames. Lars looked around until he spotted Peedee, Ronaldo's little brother, stumbling down the street with tears in his eyes, one sandal missing.

He couldn't process it anymore. It was too much, too fast. He heard the roar of his own blood, pounding at his ears, like a monster at his bedroom door. He began to breathe quickly and heavily, relishing in the painful sensation of his own breath; allowing him some semblance of control over his own existence. Gray began to dance at the edge of his vision, almost inviting. The crackling of flames mingled with Peedee's wails; a hellish, confusing din.

"lars? lars?!" He turned his head slowly to face the distant sound of his name, as if under water. Sadie was tugging at his hand; but he couldn't read the expression on her face.

Yanking his arm, he turned away from her, the mayor, the fire, the crying child.

He ran.

 **Chapter 3: Second Half: Sadie**

Sadie chased him.

An adrenaline-powered focus had taken hold of her, her short legs pumping as fast she could make them. She was confused and terrified, but she couldn't lose Lars. Somehow, he felt like a beacon of sanity in this cruel new reality they found themselves in. They had faced the storm together, and they should stay together.

Lars seemed to be heading in a straight line, but suddenly rounded a corner as they approached the other side of the beach. Why was he running straight towards the ocean?!

Sadie felt the breath force its way out of her lungs as she stumbled to a sudden stop. She threw her feet out in front of her, grit spraying her face and clawing at her raw hands.

The world had ended.

She found herself on the very edge of a rocky outcrop. It gave way not to an ocean, and above her there was no longer sky. An infinite abyss echoed below, turning from deep blue to a pure, deep absence. The small rocks she had launched over the edge with her emergency quick stop continued to fall.

Shaking, she got painfully to her feet and stood alone at the edge of the world. A still wind brushed her cheek, and she could not find the strength to scream.


	5. Beach City Parade

**Chapter 4: Whole: Steven Universe**

Steven Universe awoke with a start, throwing off his blanket and sitting up straight. Bright morning light illuminated his upstairs bedroom.

"Hahahaha whoa, weird dream." He muttered, rubbing the back of his frizzy bedhead. The dream was already starting to fade into oblivion, but he recalled something about snakes.

But Steven didn't want to think about snakes (and their tragic lack of arms) today.

Because today was the day of the yearly Beach City parade!

He had been preparing all year for this moment to happen again! Two years before, he had meet (well, more like "seen for the first time") his best friend, Connie Maheswaran, at the event. All of his friends would be there too; Peedee, Ronaldo, Lars and Sadie, the cool kids…

He did a little dance around his room, excited. The gems didn't seem to be home, but they didn't always enjoy "human" stuff like parades. He still hoped they would remember how he tried to sell the parade to them, and show up before he had to leave- the floats would start moving at 10am, and it was already 9am!

He rushed his morning routine, finally resting for a second to enjoy some re-heated pancakes. Strawberry chocolate chip pancakes, no less! Plenty of sugar for a full day, courtesy of Garnet the morning before.

He checked his phone again for an update from Connie but… oddly, she hadn't sent any new messages. Knowing the Maheswaran family… they should be there early. Steven shrugged it off; confident that punctual Connie would be waiting for him. He lifted the straps of his cheeseburger backpack- full of snacks and water for the parade, and a place to store the beads and candy that got tossed into the crowd.

As he head out the door, he grabbed a sticky note that he hadn't noticed before. Lavish, delicate handwriting composed a neat little message:

 _Dear Steven:_

 _"Sorry, Mission came up. Have fun at the parade! Be safe."_

 _~Pearl_

Steven shoved the note into his backpack. While he was disappointed that the gems weren't going out with him today, a more important detail was that they trusted him to have fun on his own. Pearl hadn't even written a "PS" about chores or anything!

Steven hummed along all the way to the center of town. The sun bright, warm pink rays offset by a brisk ocean breeze. Seagulls called high in the soft blue sky, the salty taste of ocean spray in the air.

As he approached the location of the event, he began to notice details that didn't quite sit right with the mood of a "parade."

As he passed the Funland Arcade, he peered inside to see that the interior was totally dark. The sliding doors where shut tight…

Steven pulled out his phone and glanced at the time.

10:10am.

"Whaaat is going on?" Steven muttered.

The street where floats should have been gliding by, bursting with music, excitement, free candy, and advertisements for local restaurants was as empty and cold as the night Beach City was evacuated for the Homeworld gem attack. The gentle breeze knocked a few flyers past Steven, ironically advertising the parade.

Steven's crushing disappointment was quickly turning into panic. Unless this was some kind of mean, elaborate prank, there was something bad going down in his town. And if it was bad, well… it probably had something to do with the Gems.

Steven picked up his pace, dialing numbers on his phone as he headed for his father's car wash. Dad would at least be able to clam him down. Connie didn't pick up, Dad didn't pick up, neither Lars nor Sadie picked up…

"Whhhy?" he groaned. Where WAS everyone?

His imagination ran dark. Perhaps Peridot had somehow contacted the Homeworld, and they had snuck in during the night, down from the sky. And kidnaped all of the human citizens. Where the Gems themselves ok?! He recalled those tragic, horrifying fusion monsters he and Garnet had discovered in the Kindergarten. What if they had gotten lose, and then crept into Beach City by nightfall, undetected!? Everything dangerous about Steven's life rushed into the front of his fevered young mind as he raced through the empty town.

As he approached the "It's A Wash" carwash, he was jerked back into reality by the wonderful, familiar sight of his father, sleeping peacefully in a lawn chair outside his van. His dad took naps at some really inconvenient times…

"Dad!" Steven wailed. "Dad, what's going on? Dad, WAKE UP!"

Steven raced over to his father, who was clearly worsening his suntan by sleeping in the sun. Steven shook his fathers arms, repeating his name.

But Greg didn't budge. He snored on, as if Steven wasn't starting to pinch and slap him.

"Hey Dad," Steven cooed in a singsong voice, "I've got… year old Cookie Cats!" Steven brandished the freezer burned, cat shaped treat under his fathers nose. He had been saving these to share with his friends…

Nothing. Mr. Universe slept on, oblivious. Steven felt tears starting to sting in the corners of his eyes. Why wouldn't be wake up? He was still alive, wasn't he? Why weren't the gems here with him, to tell him what was wrong?! Something was wrong with his dad! He already didn't have a mom, what if dad never woke up?!

"Ok, Steven, calm down." The half-gem steadied himself. "It's a mystery, right? So I have to search for clues, as a detective." Bitterly, he wished he could be a doctor instead, but he didn't have that option.

He knew finding another person, even another sleeping person, would be a huge breakthrough. He texted Connie again.

As he passed through the town, he simply couldn't get into any of the businesses. And when he peered inside the windows, cupping his hands over his eyes, he didn't see any signs of life. If no one was out, then everyone must be in.

His stubby legs where getting tired, but Steven pressed on. He headed into the small neighborhood on the edge of the city, and started knocking on doors, holding his breath each time. No one was out walking dogs or tidying up their yards or going to parades… empty yards, empty streets.

Steven felt like he was going crazy, the last person in the world. He stumbled into the narrow street, yelling with abandon.

"Hello? Is this place alive? Anybody?! It's Steven Universe! Please leave a message after the beep! BEEEEP!"

This was getting serious. He had to get into one of those houses and see if anyone was inside, and if they needed help. But he didn't know anything about breaking into places! He was a law-abiding citizen, not some clever rough-n-tumble No-Home Boy, no matter how much he liked to pretend.

He started trying doors, to see if he could find one that was unlocked.

He was beginning to think a new plan was in order when he heard a small, metallic chime from beneath a welcome mat at one of the little yellow houses. Nervously, he leaned down to unearth a back-up key from beneath the mat.

He knew about these fabled "back-up" keys from Connie. She had said, in her serious voice, that they where a "bad idea because burglars could easily check for them and invite themselves into your house." It was a "bad practice," as she put it.

"Thanks for practicing badly." Steven whispered, happy he wasn't going to be smashing windows after all.

He opened the light door with a slight creak, heart pounding. This was bad… it was so bad…

But so very exciting. He really did feel like an uncover detective, albeit one slightly nauseous from dread.

No lights were on, but the open window in the small living area was illuminated by the open drapes of the window. The house was well decorated, feeling warm and homey, little beach themed kink knacks and family photos of blonde people on the wall and on tables…

"Sadie." Steven breathed aloud, recognizing a younger visage of his older friend. He was trespassing in Sadie's house. He was sure Sadie would let him into her house if he asked! This was so unusual.

He examined the photos of Sadie, seeing angles of her he had never known; Sadie as a little girl in pigtails, Sadie with a dirty jersey on the 2nd grade soccer team, Sadie with braces, graduating Middle School…

Steven was jolted out of his shameless voyeurism when he heard a soft snoring from somewhere in the house. Focus, detective Steven!

He crept towards the source of the sound, and then started to laugh inwardly as he realized that he had just been shouting for "somebody, anybody!" just five minutes ago. He shouldn't need to sneak.

"Hello?" He called; still only brave enough to raise his voice to a normal "inside voice" volume. "Uh… Sadie? Barb?" Barb was Sadie's mom, he was happy he remembered her.

He cracked open a bedroom door, feeling like a dirty criminal. No… a skilled, resourceful, detective!

There was the outline of a person under a sheet in the bed… Steven felt himself sweating. He couldn't touch them. He had to talk to them.

"Hello?" He whispered.

"Hello?" He called

"HELLO?" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Nothing.

Frustrated, Steven marched forward with a grimace on his face and swept the blankets aside, dramatically revealing the sleeping figure of Barbara, Sadie's mother. Her blonde hair proofed out everywhere just like Sadies, and she slept curled into a ball, wearing a long sleep shirt.

Just like dad, she did not respond to anything Steven tried, although he was a lot more careful this time. Finding what he had come for, Steven quickly evacuated her room, shutting the door behind him.

Connie had made it clear to him that a REAL "scientific method" required three "trials," but Steven figured that finding _two_ unresponsive sleepyheads was enough evidence to support his hypothesis. Standing tall in a veritable strangers living room, Detective Steven concluded that there was only one thing that could be the cause of the missing parade:

 _Everyone in town was asleep._

It neatly explained everything, including why Connie hadn't replied to his texts. Nobody had woken up to set up the parade, or attend the parade or, or do much of anything, actually.

It did not, unfortunately, explain WHY everyone was asleep.

The gems would still be awake, though. They didn't need to sleep.

Maybe…

Maybe they caused it. Steven still disliked thinking about his gem family negatively, but it was true that tons of weird disasters occurred as a direct result of the Crystal Gems.

"Hmmm… what can detective Steven do to solve this case?" He asked himself, the role-play keeping him focused.

Steven had woken up normally this morning. It began as a normal day for HIM, but no one else? Was it because he was different? Because he was part-gem…?

Steven huffed, crossing his arms. Recently, he had managed to reach out to Lapis Lazuli; a gem from the home world who was stuck on earth, through his dreams.

He grimaced. It was more like a nightmare.

Still… he DID have the ability to lucid dream, and reach out to others in his sleep. So if everyone in town was asleep… perhaps _that_ was the only way to reach them. The thought made him feel special and talented; he had an ability that was useful!

Too bad he he wasn't tired. Not in the slightest. He was actually rather worked up by the entire no-good parade free day. Also he had snuck into someone's house and was standing in it.

The moment you really WANTED to sleep, you never could. That was stuff the gems could never really relate to…

Steven made up his mind. He would trek back him, hope against hope that the Crystal Gems had returned, and after sorting it out with them, he could use his dreaming ability to try and contact the townspeople.

And if the gems WEREN'T home, well, he'd go ahead and try it anyway. It would be waaaay too lonely, living in a town where everyone was always asleep. Besides, he had solved part of this mystery all alone already!

"Beach City, you need to wake up!" He yelled, pumping his fist into the air, momentarily shattering the silence that was suffocating a town that was often sleepy, but never quite this exhausted.


	6. Just a Dream

**Chapter 5: First Half: Sadie**

Sadie sat quietly on the flat stretch of sandy earth that dropped off into the end of the world. The cacophony of bizarre events leading up to this moment faded into nothing behind her; she rested alone, free of the trappings of reality.

Because this was a nightmare.

Either that, or it was some kind of hell. Maybe she and Lars had died in that storm, and this is where they wound up. Ghosts in a sick horror movie replica of their old lives.

 _Lars…_

Did he fall off the edge of this cliff? Had he ever been real, or was he a phantom, like the others in this town? She snickered. Maybe he was a Snerson, all along, and had run off to join his scaly brethren…

What could she do?

She couldn't help the people in town. Lars was gone. Throwing herself off this cliff might solve a few things, if it was even possible to "die" in this place. But that just wasn't her style either way. She still wanted to serve donuts at her job, to bicker and flirt with Lars, to say hello to Steven every day, and enjoy her mom's hand packed sandwiches…

Ugh, now she was just feeling sorry for herself.

She was exhausted, and had tried to sleep for hours. She couldn't. It seemed impossible, invited to the party but never showing up.

A creeping sensation along her spine startled her back into wakefulness. Something was watching her.

Sadie got back on her feet and glanced around nervously, heart pounding. The feelings of lethargy that had consumed her before evaporated like morning dew in the sun. Maybe she shouldn't have sulked so close to the edge of complete nothingness… she didn't want to die, the situation was just really crappy. Was she not allowed to have a moment?

That sound… a rumbling growl… so familiar, laced with dread…

Sadie knew what it was. She knew what it wanted. She hoped she'd never see it again.

"I kicked your butt once, and I'll kick it again!" She muttered angrily, the conflict giving her reason to feel alive again. If she went down, she would go fighting.

She didn't even have a weapon this time, but so what? None of it was real. If she believed that she would win this fight, maybe she just would. She felt the malignant presence of the creature, listening for its heavy footsteps, but she couldn't see it as long as it stayed invisible…

A huge crack of lighting split the air, and fat raindrops crashed out of the blank sky. A very nice mood, but it was accurate enough to be disturbing. Was her mind creating this from memories?

A roar sounded behind her as the invisible beast landed with a splash in the muddied ground behind her. Gasping, she was knocked off her feet.

She slid her butt around and stood up. Just like before. The beast had coated its thick body in mud, revealing itself. Pretty stupid monster, really.

But as she raised her eyes to meet that blank, muddy stare, she found something else entirely.

The monster was wearing Lars face.

There was no mistaking the crooked grin, square jawline, and narrowed hazel eyes glaring out from a mask of mud. Lars stare bored into hers; eyes dancing with a gleeful malice. Sadie was shocked into stillness, her stomach turning over.

With a snarl, the monster crashed into her head-on, hurling her into the air and bringing her back down with a crushing thud. Mud splattered in all directions. Stars danced in her brain, but she slowly pushed herself up.

The abomination roared again, but this time, she could make out words. It was speaking with Lars voice.

"What?" It snarled, distain in its thick but distinctly familiar voice. "She's not my actual _friend!_ Like I'd ever want to be friends with an insane broad like her! Do you know what she did to Steven and me? Just to try and _get with me!_ She's a pathetic cow."

Tears burned like fire in Sadie's eyes. She couldn't tell herself it wasn't real. It was painfully, terribly real.

"I guess it was fun to lead her on for while…" The monster continued its horrible speech with the edge of a laugh in its voice, scooping her back towards the end of the cliff with a sweep of its muscular arm. "But _dang_ , she's so hard to get rid of!"

Sadie still tried to get up. She focused on just getting up. If she could get up…

"HEY!"

A loud voice rang out, with a strange, heroic clarity.

"Lars would NEVER say those things!"

It was Steven Universe. The raw, gray outline of the apocalyptic Beach City rose up behind him, wind and water slicking back his dark hair. He was glaring indigently at the monster, a fierce pink glow from his gem illuminating his figure.

"Steven…" Sadie croaked. What was he doing here?

"rrrRRRAAAUUUUGGGGH!" Steven charged at the monster, a rather insane motion for the small gem-child to make. He wasn't nearly strong enough to fight it head on…

The monster reared back with a suspicious grunt, and Steven full-on slapped it across its disturbing face.

To Sadie's amazement, the thing was launched about 20 feet into the air, landing in the muddy ground with a loud splat. It slid towards the edge of the cliff, unable to find purchase with its stubby fingers in all the slick mud. Its human scream echoed hideously as it lost its battle against the cliff, disappearing over the edge and into nothing.

Sadie lay propped up in the mud, her pulse still racing.

"Oh my god. Steven. Thank you." She rubbed the tears and mud from her eyes, not knowing if she was thanking a real person or another apparition from the depths of her subconscious.

Steven rushed over to her, helping her up. "Sadie!" He cried, that sweet honest voice so nice to hear again. "Are you ok?!"

Sadie paused.

"No."

"Well you WILL be Sadie, it's ok because you're just dreaming! You have to…" he puffed out his chest, "wake up!"

He stepped back, his wide smiling face covered in mud. Sadie blinked at him.

"I figured as much?" She said hoarsely.

Steven's confident expression collapsed.

"This isn't right… I'm supposed to tell you you're dreaming," at those words he glanced at her expectantly, "and you should disappear and wake up back in the real world."

Steven jumped up and down in the mud enthusiastically, as if that was going to help.

"You're dreaming! Wake up! Wake up! _Wake up!"_

Sadie gave a bewildered sigh.

"Looks like this is as awake as I'm gonna get, Steven."

 **Chapter 5: Second Half: Sadie**

Sadie followed Steven closely, her wounded spirits uplifted by having a both a companion and a goal.

"Ok." Steven said in his "serious Steven" voice. "I'm going to show you what SHOULD happen when you talk to someone in this dream.

"It's like…" he paused, looking very thoughtful, "when you you're dreaming, right, and then you realize that hey, of course I wouldn't go to the grocery store without pants, this is just silly. And then you start to feel weird," he waved his hand, "and you wake up!"

Sadie smiled at his enthusiasm.

Steven continued, "And in THIS dream, the people dreaming just need a little help to realize that this isn't real!"

"But… why?" Sadie asked bluntly.

Steven explained how everyone in town was locked in a deep sleep, unable to be woken in the outside world. And they seemed to all be sharing the same dream. The thought of the silent town, the citizens suffering in this awful nightmare realm, was deeply horrifying to Sadie.

Even as his story was outlandish, the thought that this dream world was both fake and escapable was highly appealing. Something about Steven just felt… real, contrasting with the oddly transparent quality of the apparently false world around them.

Steven frowned. "The Crystal Gems have been trying to figure that out too. I talked to Pearl about it before I went to sleep, and she think's it's the effect of some kind of gem monster that was dormant until recently. Buuuut they can't find where it's hiding because of… some kind of "diffused waves? Or something about brains and brain waves?" Steven screwed up his face and held his arms up, expressing his confusion with the complex gem topics.

"Haha, what matters is that you know what to do to save people! Leave the details to them." Sadie reassured him.

"This place isn't a normal dream, that's for sure." Steven said. "It's like… easy to stay here? What did Garnet say… oh ya… "It's powerful." He deepened his voice; mimicking the tall, stoic gem, "Be careful to not fall in too deep."

Sadie considered silently that this might have been the case for her.

They walked briskly through the landscape; which shifted in constant and often subtle ways. At the moment, they passed by the pier, glancing into the darkened interior of "Beach Citywalk Fries."

Steven's eyes had grown round, and he seemed excited.

"What?" Sadie whispered. "Is there someone in here?"

He nodded. "You can kind of just… tell when someone is around."

Sadie actually couldn't; but she didn't say so.

The pair walked inside the empty restaurant, which smelled of raw dirt instead of the tasty food grease one expected.

"Look there!" Steven pointed, and Sadie saw a wide, crude hole that had been bored into the ground underneath the sink. The hair along the back of her neck prickled as she heard distant cries echoing from within.

"Come on, let's go!" Steven was already lowering himself into the hole.

How was he so bold? Sadie was super creeped out.

Steven gave her meaningful stare. "It's not REAL." He said. "You can leave anytime. Oh, well, I can." Steven looked a little embarrassed.

Sadie finally followed, and the two of them fell down the twisting hole.

"I said I don't KNOW anything! Please, please let me go…" Pleading cries meet Sadie's ear as they reached the end of the tunnel. "PLEASE! No!"

The two landed with a thud in a hollowed out cavern underneath the restaurant, crashing what turned out to be quite the party.

Ronaldo was tied to a chair, his hands and feet bound. Surrounding him where four generic men in suits, turning their heads to face the new arrivals all at the same moment. A fifth man was recognizable- it was Ronaldo's father, a spatula gripped in his meaty hand.

"Okkkay, this is weird." Steven announced, looking slightly nervous.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Mr Fryman, hissed, narrowing his eyes. "I'm sorry kids, but you've seen too much. Kill them." He gestured to his companions.

"NOoooo!" Ronaldo cried, and Sadie watched in horror as the men began to transform, scales breaking out all over their skin, faces distorting into reptilian grimaces, arms shrinking away into the sleeves of their suits. Mr Fryman's jaws distended, cruel eyes flashing yellow.

The memory her first Snepole encounter was a thorn in her mind, and Sadie couldn't see any way for her and Steven to defeat these things. But she was willing to fight.

The snakes all leapt towards them at once, huge fangs glistening. Sadie managed to dodge the closest one, and then rushed forward with a grunt, knocking it in the jaw. The blow knocked it back a little bit, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. How did Steven do it?!

With a loud hum, Steven knocked them all back with his pink bubble shield. The monsters paced and hissed around them in a furious circle.

"RONALDO!" Steven screamed. "It's not REAL! It's a dream! Your dad's not some dumb snake, he's awesome! Snepole aren't real, you know that. Wake up!"

"I'm…?" Ronaldo's mouth hung open, the impact of a revelation crossing his face. Sadie waited intently, hoping to see Steven's words come true.

Their attackers also turned to Steven, something almost like surprise on their usually expressionless faces. The half-transformed Mr Fryman frowned.

Then they where gone.

Panting, Sadie did a shocked 360. "It worked." She said breathlessly. "Just like you said."

Steven was grinning from ear to ear, holding out a thumbs up. "See?! I told you! I woke up Peedee, and Sour Cream, and his parents, and…" Steven started into a rather impressive list of the people he'd saved, but Sadie wasn't listening anymore.

"Then why can't I wake up?" She wondered allowed, a quite and painfully desperate plea.

"Why am I still dreaming?"


	7. Vanishing Town

**Chapter 6: First Third: Sadie**

"I've got you, Sadie!"

Steven was grabbing tight to Sadie's arms, hauling her up from the weird basement in the Fryman family's restaurant.

"I'm go-" Sadie began, but stopped as a loud crack echoed from deep within the building's foundation, and her eyes widened in fear, her grip slipping.

Steven just gestured for her to hurry.

"I'm falling! Steven!" Sadie wailed, bits of the ceiling raining down on them as the restaurant began to crumble.

"Just… hang… on!" Steven yelled, pulling her up with a sudden burst of energy.

The two clung to each other as the structure around them began to collapse. Support beams snapped like toothpicks, metal pipes rent in two.

"Steven, use your bubble!" Sadie cried, but Steven shook his head and stood up, heart pounding.

"It's just a dream!" He said confidently, arms on his hips as dust exploded all around him. "It can't hurt us!"

Sadie crouched in terror, her fists clenched as she tried to process his words.

With a final rumbling sigh, Beach Citywalk Fries crumbled into clouds of thick, sooty dust, a sudden wind tossing the ashes into the blackening sky. Sadie stood up; not a single scratch on her body.

"wwwwOW!" Sadie yelled after a moment, her eyes glowing with excitement. "It just… like, imploded, and didn't hurt us at all! You CAN control this dream!"

Her mind flashed back to the terrified people back in town; Mayor Dewy and Mr Smiley. They were screaming and sobbing over NOTHING! A dark pressure that had been crushing her heart loosened.

"C'mon, I know exactly where we can find some people!" she called.

Sadie lead Steven to the Funland Arcade, or what remained of the dream world's Funland Arcade. The mayors crazy van was sitting out in front of it, the Mayor himself crouched by the giant plastic replica of his own head, face in his hands.

Sadie saw the distinguished Mr. Smiley on his knees, as if praying to the charred ruins of his arcade. She'd worry about the Mayor first; she'd already heard his sob story.

"Calm down, Mayor Dewy." Sadie spoke in a gentle voice as she crouched by the crumbled man next to his crumbled van.

"But I'm NOT the Mayor anymore!" he howled, tears rushing down his face.

"Yes, you are!" Sadie insisted. "And you're a pretty good one too. What you did controlling the crowd during the evacuation was great. You're dreaming, Mayor. Wake up!"

Steven watched as both the man and the van vanish in an instant. Sadie gave a breathless laugh, heart soaring with relief.

"Wow, great job Sadie!" He observed, "I guess you don't have to shout it loud. But I like to."

"HEY MR. SMILEY!" Steven roared, making his point. The big man lifted his head, looking anything but Smiley in this darkest hour. Steven raced over to him, holding out his arms.

"I love your arcade. And guess what, I can go to it anytime! Because this is fake," he gestured to the burned out building, "but you're real. Just asleep."

Mr. Smiley disappeared before he could even manage a surprised stare. The arcade sighed into dust, and Sadie and Steven watched in self-satisfied awe.

 **Chapter 6: Second Third: Steven Universe**

The duo trekked through the town, finding and freeing as many citizens as they could. Now that Sadie seemed confident again, it was easy to fight off any dream-monsters or problems that might be bothering them.

They quelled a massive storm for Yellowtail, comforted a grieving Mr. Universe, reminded Jamie that he wasn't in Kansas anymore, and Steven rather awkwardly let Sadie's mom know that her house wasn't actually being robbed…

It seemed to Steven that there was no end to the dreamers, but they worked methodically and watched the town crumble in their wake with each successive rescue.

Steven felt like the two of them were some top-quality heroes, even if it was "just a dream." Sadie had seemed really sad that she couldn't wake up herself, but she wanted to aid Steven in his quest to help the town. He was very glad to have her.

The gems had tried to go with him, but even when they forced themselves to sleep (Pearl in particular was loathe to let him go alone), they never managed to find this huge mutual dream. It seemed only humans– or part-humans- got drawn into it.

The false town had quieted down quite a bit as they passed through, like a healing rain over a parched desert. The huge fire at the arcade was gone, the cries of people suffering from lost jobs or lost friends or lost pants fading into nothing. Steven reflected happily that as the dream world became lonelier, the real world must have been livening up!

Eventually they doubled back to the pier. As they approached, Steven's heart gave a jump when he spotted a familiar silhouette standing on the edge of the bridge over the water.

 _Connie!_ He had been so worried about finding her here.

"Connie!" He called, deeply relived to have finally located his closest human companion. He raced ahead, leaving Sadie struggling to keep up.

"Steven!" Connie replied sharply.

She was wearing her slick sword fighting outfight, sword in hand. Her hair was braided back, glasses removed. This was Connie in her fittest fighting form. Steven suddenly wondered what the heck she was doing out here, dressed like that. It didn't really make sense, but his joy overwhelmed the confusion.

"Connie, I'm so glad to see you! You-'" Steven began, but Connie screamed at him.

"You can't be here! I told you to go away, it's not safe!" Her voice was edged with fear, and Steven felt himself sway on the spot. Connie swept her sword at him as a warning, and he backed away in alarm.

A deep rumbling was shaking the pier. Suddenly a huge, tapering worm creature exploded from beneath it, sending sharp chunks of wood flying.

It was the monster from when Steven and Connie had first met.

Steven's mind was flooded with memories of that day, of the ferocity of the creature and the intense awkwardness between he and Connie, a sensation that right now seemed unfamiliar and unwelcome… he had really goofed things up that day…

"STEVEN!" Connie's horrified voice rang in his ears, and he noticed too late that the giant worm monster had slithered around from behind and was headed straight for him, its round, fanged mouth poised to swallow him whole.

He felt strong arms push him out of danger. Connie rushed forward and plunged her sword through the worms flesh and up through its head. As she did, the creature closed its razor teeth around her torso, shaking her back and forth violently. Both girl and monster screamed in pain.

Steven had forgotten that the dream world was a fake.

He only saw Connie, a person who was truly beloved to him, being torn apart as a direct result of trying to save his life. He saw a nightmare play out before him; a sacrifice that he thought he would never, ever allow.

He floundered in the sand, darkness all around him. He got Connie involved in this. He knew he should have pushed her away before it came to this. This was all because of him and his deadly gem heritage.

"STOP THIS!" A voice sounded out from the darkness, and a human figure rushed forward with incredible speed.

Sadie punched the worm so hard that its soft flesh rippled outward like water disturbed by a tossed stone. It burst into a million drops of water, scattering like a sudden rain into the sand.

Amazed, Steven shook his head to clear the awe from his mind, dashing towards Connie's still form on the ground. Her sword laid next to her wounded body, the falling water causing a delicate play of light to illuminate the ugly scene.

He fell to his knees and cradled her in his arms, huge tears sliding down his face. "C-Connie…" he blubbered. "W-hy…"

She turned to face him, a slight smile on her bruised but still beautiful face. "It was…" she coughed. "Worth it."

Steven felt his heart break in two.

"GUYS!"

Sadie was facing them, hands on her hips, staring them down with determination. A heroic wind ruffled her messy hair, her fists clenched.

"It's just a nightmare! You're asleep. YOU'RE the one who taught me that, Steven! C'mon!" She braved a smile, but Steven noticed that she had tears in her eyes too, even while her gaze was fierce. "Wake up you two. You're ok. Please wake up."

Steven gasped. It was fake. The entire world, this whole tragedy, how did he forget?! He was so stupid! His concern for Connie had made him forget! If it wasn't for Sadie…!

"I fell in too deep." He stuttered, blushing with embarrassment.

 **Chapter 6: Final Third: Steven Universe**

Steven jerked awake, his body coated with sweat. He was back in his bed, the soft light of the moon lying across his legs. What a nightmare that dream had become.

"What is it?!" Pearl's concerned voice filled his bedroom; she had been watching him sleep. This time around, Steven was actually ok with this unsettling habit of Pearls.

"I… uhh…" Steven rubbed his head, still embarrassed. "I woke up?" He flashed an appeasing smile.

"Did you wake _everyone_ up before coming back? Are you sure you're ok?" Pearl was flustered as usual.

"I'm not sure if I got EVERYONE, but we where making progress!" Steven said, cheering up as he remembered how much good he'd done in spite of his failure.

Pearl continued to look concerned. "I think the Mayor woke up and is trying to coordinate a way to make sure we know who is awake and who isn't… Also, who's "we…?" Pearl asked, tilting her head.

Steven opened his mouth to explain when Amethyst burst into the beach house with fanfare.

"Hey guys!" She called gleefully. "We foooooouuuuund it! And you're gonna wanna see this."

"I'll explain later." Steven said hastily to Pearl, immediately dying to know what Amethyst and Garnet had found.

The trio headed out, ready to see the next part of this mystery solved.

As Steven raced alongside his gem companions, he silently sent thanks to Sadie. He hadn't been able to express his gratitude before he had hurtled back into the waking world. Hopefully, he could thank her in person soon enough.


	8. Valley of Shattered Glass

**Chapter 7: First Third: Sadie**

Sadie journeyed through the gray nightmare alone, squinting her eyes against fierce gusts of black dust as she searched for any landmarks that might be waiting, indicating the presence of a dreamer to be rescued.

Beach City had been reduced to a skeleton of its former self, important locations vanishing as the souls who had conjured them vanished.

It had been disturbing to watch Steven descend into the madness of this nightmare, and while she was glad to have helped him out of it, she loathed the ache of such fresh loneliness.

Sadie had figured out what Steven meant by just "knowing" when someone was nearby, but she couldn't sense any such presence now. Mentally, she went over the list of people who'd been rescued in her head… and was surprised to find that everyone in Beach City proper seemed to be accounted for.

But she couldn't possibly be alone. There was still one last missing person; the person she had arrived with in a terrible thunderstorm.

Suddenly feeling tired, Sadie plopped down in the dust, the screeching winds lashing about at random. The more you let your emotions and memories take hold of your conscious mind, the deeper into the nightmare you would fall. And if she knew anything about Lars, well, he was probably already at the bottom.

Right now, enduring those obnoxious winds, Sadie was skimming the top of the nightmare. She was focused on her goal, ignoring the pull of that familiar glow in the distance, or a sound that was almost her name. Concrete visuals, sounds, and smells lingered beneath her, but she ignored them all. Sadie alone was in control, and that was definitely the ideal situation. Steven had helped her reach this point, but now he was gone and there was no guarantee he'd be coming back.

If she was going to find Lars… she might have to let go, immerse herself in the dark waters of the nightmare once again. If she did that, would she have the strength to swim back to shore?

Through the howling winds, a bright white light danced in the immediate distance. Inviting, beautiful. Deceitful.

She sighed. Even if it meant losing herself, she had to try and rescue Lars. Nothing else really mattered, anyway.

Sadie was never going to wake up.

Her chest burned with fear at the thought, but she knew that this was an honest and unfaltering truth. She didn't know why, but _she just couldn't wake up_. It made more sense to end her life in a daring rescue than let her soul waste away in this wretched wasteland of a dreamscape.

Slowly getting back to feet, her muscles quivering slightly with the knowledge of where she was going, Sadie marched forward towards the glow.

 **Chapter 7: Second Third: Sadie**

A familiar path emerged like water from all the static of dust. The sun glared through the sandstorm, and suddenly she was standing in front of the Big Donut, on her way to work.

She paused, remembering how her workplace had been torn to the ground by an awful storm. But that was just part of the nightmare, right? The REAL Big Donut was right here, shinning in the afternoon sun, the sign freshly painted after that recent monster attack had dented it.

Wait, afternoon? How could she be this late!?

Sadie picked up her pace, sprinting into the restaurant. Lars looked up from his phone, already manning the register.

"Lars!" she panted, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be so late…" Lars was the tardy one! This was embarrassing.

Lars, for once, didn't look annoyed.

"Hey, you asked me to cover your morning shift for you. It's always slow before noon, no big deal."

"Oh." Sadie replied blankly, remembering that ya, she had asked him that, so she could help her mom out with something at the house…

"Hello to you too," Lars glowered, but as Sadie approached her spot at the counter, he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead in a rather personal greeting.

Sadie jerked back, surprised. "Lars! What was that for?!" She felt herself blushing, running her hand through her hair nervously.

"What do you mean?" Lars sounded so lighthearted. "Why is it weird for a guy to kiss his girlfriend now and again?"

 _Girlfriend?_

When did… Lars turned back to his phone, but he smiled at her; that real big goofy smile he got when he was genuinely happy. Sadie started to replace some of the missing display doughnuts, trying to use the chore to distract her from the warm butterflies that were going crazy in her chest.

But Lars turned to help her, his hands brushing hers as they reached for the same pastry. Lars didn't react at all, and finally slid his hand into hers as they finished restocking and turned back to face the front of the store.

Sadie was wildly nervous, but the gentles pressure of Lar's fingers against her own was such a magical sensation, she just rode it out. Of course she was his girlfriend. Why wouldn't she be? They where perfect for each other.

Sadie curled her hand tightly around his, and they enjoyed casual conversation as time passed and the soft purple light of twilight started to creep into the restaurant.

"…And then I said, "Would you like me to pick the sprinkles out for you then?" And that guy actually said yes, it was crazy!" Lars laughed, describing rude customer antics to Sadie.

Sadie shook her head, turning to reply, when she noticed something interesting about Lars shirt.

There was a snake on it.

A green snake, a small detail that suddenly filled the world with some deep, unspoken significance.

"Sadie?" Lars asked, but she wasn't listening anymore.

"Isn't that…" the words came slowly, painfully. "Isn't that the shirt you… gave me? On the island. It's… it's still in my dresser, but it's basically destroyed… from the fight…"

The world swayed. A violent wind was tearing at the back of Sadie's brain.

"I'm sorry, but you're not Lars." She stammered, reluctantly untangling her hand and turning away.

"Sadie!? Come back!" Lars pleaded, but she refused to even look behind her.

Light drained from the world as she felt herself rise back to the surface of the nightmare. Eyes shut tightly, she ran as far as could from the wonderful fake world, from the happy and confident Lars who loved her back, from the sly little lie that she had been telling herself.

Laughing aloud, Sadie observed that a nightmare would have been better; when you awoke from such a pleasant dream, the world itself seemed hopelessly cruel. She had gone in to find someone who was lost, but all she'd succeed in doing was getting lost herself. How many times would she have to do that before she found him?! She was consumed by hopelessness.

"AUGH!" Sadie howled in pain as something sharp cut deeply into her foot. She fell to her knees, tore off her shoes, and cradled her injured limb. A small shard of glass had lodged itself in her heel. Carefully getting a steady grip on the offensive object, she yanked it free, revealing an angry red gash.

But Sadie yelped again as she set her hand down behind in an attempt to get up, cursing as she saw the shape of another glass fragment in her palm. Grimacing, she flicked the tiny piece out of her flesh.

As her eyes followed its arch through the air, she gasped as she caught herself staring back at her. A distorted, transparent Sadie with clothes tattered, huge purple bags under her eyes, frizzy hair and a thick coating of gray dust on her body. Her face was streaked with the trails of recent tears.

Stunned, Sadie reached out her arm and slowly caressed the huge face of the cold shard of glass, at last taking in her surroundings.

Broken glass of all shapes and sizes lay scattered all the way to the horizon. The sky was solemn gray, but weak white sunlight seemed to illuminate the scene. The glass had sunk into sand beneath a very thin layer of water, echoing the thin gray-blue hue of the sky. The world was sparkling, an infinite, fragile expanse.

Slowly and very carefully, Sadie stood up, waiting on the edge of this melancholy landscape. In the distance she spotted a landmark arise from this bizarre sea.

It was an island, outlined black against the glowing sky. A tall, slender tree arose from it, its spidery branches reaching out; dead, with no leaves to speak of.

Sadie felt her pulse increase as she studied the figure leaning on the tree. Head on his knees, gazing outward, Sadie finally found the real person she had been seeking.

But he was sitting what seemed like miles from her current location.

Sadie bunched her hands into fists, trying to clam herself down.

Lars was waiting. But in order to reach him, she would have to cross the valley of shattered glass.

 _It's a dream. It's not real. The glass can't cut you. You are strong, and it is brittle._

Sadie opened her eyes, reciting the mantra of "just a dream," trying not to focus on the keen, hungry edges on the army of glass before her.

The internal tension rose like a screaming hot kettle. Finally, she lunged forward, holding her arms out in front of her face and squeezing her eyes shut.

The glass exploded as it touched her skin, bursting into billions of tiny, glittering slivers.

She ran on, still hunched in a defensive position, a crystal cloud of dust rising up behind her. Flecks of water leapt into the air as she pounded through the valley, a brave missile of sheer determination. The sound of shattering glass filled her ears, piercing her mind.

 _It's a dream. It's not real. The glass can't cut you. You are strong, and it is brittle._

She could hardly breathe, losing steam. Her aching body screeched in protest, but she had to keep going until she reached the shore- she was convinced that if she stopped, she would be pinned in a prison of glass forever. Finally taking her arms away from her face, she saw the dark shape of the island rise up before her.

Wailing, she threw her body forward, landing on the shore with a thud. The echoes of the shattered glass grew distant, and she lifted her head, gasping.

 _"Lars!"_

 **Chapter 7: Final Third: Lars**

The world was gray, and he felt nothing.

How many disasters had he screamed through to get here? The blended together, a violent twister of pain and failure and misery. But sure enough, he had eventually found stillness, here beneath the tree in the center of the valley of glass. Here he felt no pain, no failure, and no misery. Even loneliness had evaporated. He scarcely remembered his own name.

 _"Lars!"_

Many miles away, he thought heard that name.

Somebody other than himself was tugging at him, trying to communicate with him. Why? He felt the pressure of his own breathing, a distant siren of alarm. Something was wrong, something was happening!

"Auuugh!" He stood up, clutching his head with his hands. Lars returned in a painful rush, and the still cage of nothing was no longer his to call home.

"Sadie!" He snarled, seeing his friend standing next to him, her eyes wide. She was wearing her Big Donut outfit, and looked all cleaned up for work. "You woke me up! I was napping."

"Lars," she said softly, tenderly touching his arm. "You need to wake up."

"What are you TALKING about, I am awake!" He crossed his arms, annoyed. Why was she always bothering him when he clearly wanted to be left alone?!

Sadie shook her head knowingly. "No. You're still asleep. You have to wake up, Lars. Wake up. It's just a nightmare."

Lars blinked, furrowing his brow. Just… a nightmare? It was all a dream? Really? What… an amazing... relief…

"T-thank you…" He muttered, grabbing Sadie's shoulders as the ground lurched beneath him.

She smiled up at him, and as the world dissolved, he saw with alarm that her entire body was crisscrossed with thousands of cuts, bleeding and bruised as if she had been involved in some terrible struggle.

He was too horrified to form a reply. Then he woke up.


	9. Dioptase

**Chapter 8: First Half: Lars**

Lars returned to the waking world with a jolt, falling off of his stool as he flailed his limbs in shock. Headphones clattered off of his head as he landed, catching his fall with outstretched arms. He hissed at the pain in his knees as they hit the floor, head spinning with the lingering nightmare that held tight to his imagination.

He saw that jarring vision of Sadie, who had suffered so visibly on his behalf. He was quickly trying to forget.

As he lifted his head, he took in a sharp breath of alarm.

The air in the Big Donut was stained with a weak teal glow, as if it had plunged into the depths of the ocean. Bright white floaters flickered through the air. A slight electric current seemed to tickle his skin, and his ears started ringing.

No. It couldn't be true. Was he awake or not?!

Blood roaring his ears, he gazed down at his stinging arms and realized that his entire body had been ensnared by some kind of thin tendrils. They gently wrapped around his limbs and illuminated his body with a weak blue-green glow.

His voice rose into a kind of wordless whine, a fresh new fear taking hold of him.

He brushed at the wisps in a panic, like someone caught in a cobweb. They dissolved softly into bioluminescent dust. Nearly tripping over his headphones, he reared back as he discovered what remained of his co-worker.

Sadie was sitting in her stool, slumped across the counter, head lying peacefully across her folded arms.

Emerging from beneath the wrapping on her left arm was a clump of the same tendrils that had taken hold of Lars, but much thicker and livelier. They crept over her face, her hair, her legs; a kind of blooming slime mold.

Lars was too terrified to speak. Arms shaking, he reached out to brush the growth off her, but as he did, tendrils at the epicenter of the infection lashed out. They struck him across the palm and he leapt back with a yell, clutching his seared hand.

It wasn't real. He shut his eyes as hard as he could, hand twisting around his injured arm.

 _Just a dream. Just a dream. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE. UP._

"He woke up!"

A voice sounded out from the gloom, and through the greenish fog he saw, improbably, Steven and the Crystal Gems standing cautiously in the doorway.

"That's the last one. Let's do it."

"Wait." Lars croaked haplessly.

He stood and watched as the beak nosed skinny gem leapt forward, slicing through the jungle of glowing vines with a long spear. This agitated the tendrils in Sadie's arm, and they lashed out, only to be deflected neatly.

Pearl leapt unto the counter and stood over Sadie's still form, spear pointing downward as the tendrils sliced about angrily.

"Wait! Stop!" he cried. _Don't hurt her!_

He gasped as a huge pair of hands grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air. The largest of Steven's gem friends held him tightly and was briskly carrying him out of the store, away from Sadie.

"Put me down!" he cried indignantly, "What are you doing? Stop it!"

Craning his neck, he caught a glimpse of the pale gem woman was crouched over Sadie. With a sweep of her hand, the gem encased Sadie's body in some kind of transparent bubble, which dissolved into squares and vanished into thin air.

"SADIE!" He screamed, hopelessly pounding his fists against the big red and black gem. "SADIE!"

He closed his eyes, wave after wave of anxiety crashing over him.

 _Just a dream. Just a dream. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE. UP._

 **Chapter 8: Second Half: Pearl**

It was absolutely boggling how so much fascinating phenomenon happened as a result of pure accident on this planet.

The most scientifically inclined Crystal Gem stood with a finger on her chin, one leg crossed behind the other in a thoughtful pose.

She stood in secret chamber deep within the Crystal Temple, a space she had designed for scientific inquiry. It wasn't really equipped to handle biological cases like this, but she had done her best with the aging technology they had left over from the war. She was proud of it.

The human girl lay bubbled on a round slab of stone, various pieces of monitoring equipment surrounding her. A hologram constantly projected figures in a complex language; connected to a series of thick maroon wires that projected flickering red light unto the subject. The greenish tendrils that had grown from the cut in her arm had receded into her body, the aura of the bubble halting their growth.

Pearl poured over the data again, double and triple checking her figures. She clicked her tongue in amazement.

"Incredible." she said aloud, her voice echoing off the tall ceiling.

Steven Universe was the only gem-human hybrid that existed. No, he might be the only gem-organic hybrid that existed. And the only reason he DID exist was the result of an intentional action taken by a conscious gem. But this…

Pearl recalled the name of the original gem who was responsible, most likely not of her own will, for this bizarre phenomenon.

Dioptase.

Pearl had never liked her. She fought dirty, projecting hallucinations into the heads of weak-minded gems, generating chaos on the battlefield. Allies would tear into one another, struggling against some projected demon. Dioptase wasn't very… discriminating, and many better gems had been wounded or worse by her apathy in honing her powers for practical means.

Her gem had long been shattered, but her remains were of the many that the Crystal Gems had been hunting down all theses years. If it wasn't for the cut this human had received from the corrupted form of Dioptase… her capture and bubbling would have been business as usual.

Pearl called up the projection that showed the core of the infection- a tiny shard of Dioptase, lodged deep in the left arm of the human girl.

She turned to glance at the rest of Dioptase, bubbled safely in the air next to her head. Three glittering teal shards they had bubbled upon defeating that monster slightly over a week ago. When combined with the final shard in Sadie's arm, they would probably compose the original gem... but Pearl had scanned them, and they remained utterly inert. Only the gem that had joined with Sadie's body had mutated.

Over the course of a week, the gem shard had started to react, silently, with the human's biology underneath the thin wrappings. In many ways, the relationship it had established was symbiotic. Sustained by the inorganic properties of the shard, this human could live up to 1000 years without any need for the usual sustenance earth life forms required. Not too shabby for a human. But of course… she would be asleep the whole time.

Was there a way they could wake her up… and still allow her the benefits of this gem infection? It was a greedy thought; it would be a feat just to separate the two without destroying one or both.

It was also… wrong. Yes, it was completely immoral to allow the union to continue, and certainly pursuing it... weaponizing it, wasn't something Pearl could allow, no matter how curious she was.

Pearl was jolted out her thoughts as Garnet and Amethyst entered the room.

"Please announce your presence when you enter." she said sharply, annoyed at having her train of thought derailed. She also wondered what magic they had worked to keep Steven from following them; the half-gem had been in a panic ever since he'd found out that one of Beach City's residents wasn't waking up anytime soon.

"So… what can you tell us?" Garnet asked calmly, crossing her arms.

Pearl was jittery with excitement at the opportunity to discuss her findings.

"Dioptase's gem shard has somehow merged with the biology of this human!" Pearl announced, taking a breath. "The other shards behave like normal pieces of corrupted gems, but this one spent long enough inside the human to change."

"It initially infiltrated her bloodstream and muscle tissue, but it finally started interacting with her neurological system… it altered her actual brain cells in a unique way that reflected Dioptase's projection abilities, and in the final stages it amplified her brain waves when she feel asleep. It actually sent out a signal that trapped any sleeping human within a large radius within a single, shared dream space…!"

She clapped her hands together, taking deep breath. She was proud to have managed such a complete analysis in such a short span of time.

Garnet seemed to be considering her speech, but Amethyst swung out her hips, replying in a sassy tone.

"Sooooo what? Stop speaking geek. What are we gonna DOOooooOO about it?" she drawled.

"W-well…" Pearl stammered, annoyed. She hadn't fully considered that part yet, of course. It was demanding enough as it was, just finding out the details of what was going on!

"Can we save the human or not?" Garnet said bluntly.

"Well, we could easily just un-bubble her and tear the shard out but…" Pearl's voice rose nervously, "The shock to her body would almost unquestionably kill her, yes."

"Can we remove it gradually?" Garnet continued.

"Well, perhaps, but unlikely. We just don't have the proper technology here on earth…" Pearl replied. "But Garnet, this is unprecedented. This is the only other gem-human reaction we've seen since…"

"We have to make _absolutely sure_ it stays contained." Garnet cut her off, not entertaining Pearl's almost childish excitement. "You saw how dangerous it was. This is the worst situation we've faced since Jasper and Peridot came to earth. It involved nearly every single human in this town."

Pearl squirmed, considering her solemn promise to Rose Quartz to protect the people of Earth.

"But this IS a human… surely, _that_ can't be the best option…" Pearl breathed.

"Ya, she's also Steven's friend. He'd NEVER forgive us." Amethyst snorted, and Pearl had to admit she agreed with this sentiment.

The three gems stood in a nervous circle around the problem, without single appealing action to take towards solving it. Their shadows danced softly against the stone walls, cast by the dim red light of the machines.

"Can't we just, you know, leave her? Bubbled up like the rest of them. They can wait, so can she." Amethyst said impatiently.

Pearl sighed. "It is true that she will survive in stasis like this… but…"

They all languished in awkward silence again. The issue of the corrupted gems was a problem that had lasted so long, sometimes they almost forgot that it WAS a problem.

"It's settled then." Garnet spoke with finality, slamming her fists together. "Pearl, you should keep working on a way to fix this. But for now, we will bubble them and store them in the Burning Room with the others. It is our best option."

They all nodded. Pearl turned back to continue studying the situation, and the other two gems silently left her to her work.

One of the projections displayed the fluctuating power levels of the gem shard. As the tiny sliver of Dioptase was currently bubbled, it had nearly flat lined. Only the slight quiver of the unconscious gem's internal, underlying life force disturbed the smooth line.


	10. Purpose and Reason

**Chapter 8: First Third: Sadie**

Sadie was alone.

She waited in the swirling winds of the nightmare, her strength flickering in and out like a candle in the wind.

"Sadie, you'll be late for work!" Her mothers voice was stern. Sadie was overwhelmed with the panic that consumes the tardy, grabbing her lunch and running out the door.

"I'll make it!" she panted.

As she approached the Big Donut, she was horrified to find that it had torn down by a huge storm! How did this-

She gasped, memories flooding back. This was just like… _the first dream!_ Or was it the second? Either way, this was some serious dejavu. She unfocused her thoughts, focusing on remaining in this particular dreamscape. Right down to the ice cream in the sand, this was the same scene as before.

She found Lars, bewildered as before, staring out over the destruction.

"Can you see Steven?" she asked, impatient.

"Uh, what?" He stammered, but Sadie was ahead of him. She spotted Steven's back as he strolled up the hill towards the lighthouse.

Just like before!

She ran on, completely ignoring Lars surprised yells. Maybe… maybe if she caught Steven this time, the whole thing would turn out differently! Her heart was weighted down with hope.

"Steven! Steven, stop! It's Sadie!" She screamed.

Steven halted right before reaching the lighthouse door, his mouth open as he turned to face her.

"Sadie! I finally found you! Oh, Sadie! Sadie!" He fell to his knees, stars in his eyes as he grabbed Sadie's hands.

"Well, hello to you too Steven." Sadie said, surprised by this outpouring of emotion.

Steven quickly stood up, clenching his fists and bouncing in excitement. "I've been looking for you for nights! I was dream walking all over, but I could never quite catch you! Sadie, you have to wake up!"

Sadie rolled her eyes and sighed, despite the furious pounding of her heart. She wasn't alone. Steven had actually found her this deep in the nightmare?! She could hardly believe it.

"You know I can't do that, Steven. I really appreciate this, and…" she felt her voice tighten as she considered the thought of Steven leaving again, "I can't wake up. You know that…" She started to ramble.

Steven shook his head. "No, you can't wake up on your own. But that's why me and Pearl have come up with a plan!"

Sadie racked her brain. Pearl was one of Steven's gem moms… ya, the tall skinny one? Or the red one…?

Steven grabbed her hand, and she felt a rush of joy. To not be alone. To be wanted.

She felt tears start to well up in her eyes.

"C'mon Sadie! You can find out more in here!" Steven gestured towards the lighthouse. "H-hey, don't cry. It's gonna be ok."

Sadie shook her head silently. Rubbing her eyes, she allowed Steven to lead her into the lighthouse.

The interior of the gloomy place seemed somehow brighter, the sunlight sneaking its way in through the cracks in the rotting wood, blurring into white fuzzy spots in in her teary eyes.

As they reached the wide-open room at the top of the Lighthouse, Sadie saw that a huge, glistening machine stood squarely at the center. Long wires ran from a capsule shape and disappeared into the shadows.

"Ta-da! We can use this!" Steven held out an arm to show off the weird machine, which emitted a weird green light.

"What does it do?" Sadie asked tentatively, walking forward and basking in the green glow of this technology that was to be her savior. "I don't get it… how'd you get something like this… into the dream?"

Steven frowned, looking confused "It's complicated… something about changing the patterns in your uhhh… delta brain waves! Hey, I remembered!" Steven smiled wide.

Sadie mirrored his expression. "So does how it work? I don't want to spend another second here."

Steven walked over and pressed a button on the machine, and a chamber slid open with a "beep!" Foggy white smoke billowed out, smelling almost of dry ice.

Steven bowed, gesturing for Sadie to step inside. "Ladies first."

"R-really?" Sadie stammered. "This is it?"

Steven peaked open one eye, not wanting to break his stance. "Well, it's the first step." he whispered.

Sadie glanced at him again, her heart quivering nervously.

"Alright, let's do THIS!" she cried, shouldering forward into the shocking chilly interior of the capsule.

The glass pane closed in front of her with a hiss, and she held her arms tightly to her body in the cramped space.

"Steven?" She called, voice echoing over the loud hissing of the machine. "Is this uh- normal?"

She saw Steven's face floating in the frosted pane of glass, and immediately sensed something was wrong.

She slammed her palms against the window, eyes blank with fear.

She saw others begin to materialize in her view; Ronaldo, Lars, Steven's gems moms… they all glared into the pod with a cold triumph, eyes narrowing, yellowing… this was…

Face contorted with hate, Steven's forked tongue shot out of a lipless mouth as he hissed his victory "Now you'll be one of uuuuus!"

Sadie screamed with the force of a collapsing sun.

She punched the glass window into a million tiny shards. With a single stomp of her foot she shook the entire lighthouse to its foundation, causing it to ripple outward into a fantastic explosion. The deceitful Sneploe fell trashing to their deaths, Saide alone standing on a single plank of wood supported by nothing but improbability. The world was dark and screaming once again.

She threw her face into her hands, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall.

 _When will this end?_

She couldn't trust anyone. Because everyone she met here was just some weird reflection of her own desires and fear and thoughts. How many times now had she been tricked by her own cruel mind? She constantly forgot that a hodgepodge of imperfect emotions and memories had rebuilt her entire world with each dreamscape she stumbled in and out of.

She sank into a ball and cried while the black winds howled around her, knowing that her strength would soon fail, and she'd find herself down yet another dead-end rabbit hole.

 **Chapter 9: Second Third: Lars**

Lars was digging methodically through his closest. He clawed aside childhood toys and old clothes, driven by a mindless panic. Where was it?!

Suddenly he turned his head upward, eyes fixating on the string dangling from the door to the attic. He'd try that.

Balancing rather precariously on a box full of old books and dvds, he reached his arm up and… there! Got it!

Louder than thunder, a flood of shattered glass poured like water from the dark interior of the roof, lapping at his waist as it squeezed through his closet into the room behind him. Lars leapt back in shock as a body rode down on the glittering wave, slamming into the ground.

"Lars."

Sadie raised up pleading eyes, chunks of glass glittering in her hair.

"How could you leave me there?"

"AHHHHH!" Lars awoke screaming, tearing at the sides of his bed. He felt sick, clutching his knees and burying his head in his legs.

It was so cruel. Every time he managed to slip away into darkness, he was shaken back to life by some hideous, guilt-ridden nightmare.

It'd been a week since the "Nightmare Incident," yet Lars still felt like he was still living in one.

He studied the patterns on his skin cast by the watery dawn sunlight, filtering in through the ineffective block out drapes on his window. It was always some variation of the same thing. "How could you leave? Why would you let me go? I'm all alone."

He rummaged through his blankets and found his phone, seeking the crutch of routine to calm his anxiety.

 _Buck Dewy – 9:03 pm – re: Vigil for Sadie_

 _Hey dude- just making sure you didn't forget about the vigil tonight. We'll all be there. Hope to see you there._

 _Sour Cream – 10:01 pm – hey guy_

 _We're all here for you dude. You should come._

 _Steven U – 10:32 pm – Lars!_

 _we love you lars! please come!_

Lars angrily flicked off the screen. He hadn't gone.

You held vigils for dead people. Missing people everyone knew was dead. Sadie wasn't dead. He'd seen her. She was still alive, trapped in that disgusting nightmare world… alone.

In other words, worse than dead.

Lars fought off the indulgent urge to cry, gritting his teeth. He wanted to crawl out of his skin and never come back to this awful town.

Suddenly felt he felt even more awful. _He hadn't gone to Sadie's vigil!_?

Sadie was one of his best friends. Even… more than a friend, or something like that. He'd had so many things he'd wanted to talk to her about, and never once had he considered that he'd never be able to say them eventually if he'd wanted to.

He was greedy and stupid, always assuming that he had plenty of time to work out his feelings before he confronted them. Now he only heard her voice in nightmares, wondering if she really was calling out to him, cursing him for leaving her alone.

He clutched his head. _But she's not dead! Why should I grieve?! It's not fair!_

But if she wasn't dead, where, exactly, was she? He never got anywhere in his dreams. Multiple times he had willed himself to find and help Sadie before he went to sleep, but it's not like his stupid dream self ever remembered the instructions. He just ended up awake, sweating and horrified by another pointless nightmare.

He focused on his fuzzy memory of Sadie's body being spirited away by that one gem. Was that really as good as dead? Suddenly a thought occurred to him, the origin of a plot.

Steven.

Steven would know.

Lars was tired of this. He was tired of everything, tried of hurting. He hadn't gone to work or hardly left his dimmed room. He's built his own cage of solitary suffering from rod iron bars of guilt, hardly aware of what he was doing.

But it wasn't going to get any better like this. He hadn't gone to Sadie's vigil. Perhaps this was the least he could do?

He pulled out his phone and furiously started texting.

 _To: Steven U- 7:16 am - Subject: hey_

 _Steven where is Sadie_

He waited anxiously for a reply, watery eyes watching shadows as the sun rose into the sky. His tired eyelids where actually starting to close when the buzz of his phone shocked him awake.

 _Steven U – 8:45 am – re: hey_

 _what do u mean exactly?_

Lars snorted, annoyed at being forced to clarify his obvious message.

 _To: Steven U – 8:46 am – re:hey_

 _I mean where is her body_

Steven replied quickly this time.

 _Steven U – 8:47 am – re:hey_

 _I told you shes not dead. :( she's here at the crystal palace. she's safe! I told u, pearl is going to find a way to wake her up! do you want a hug lars we are all worried about u_

 **"She's here at the crystal palace."**

That line alone mattered to Lars.

He got out of bed and put on his clothes. He was done waiting. Sadie was mad at him for leaving her behind. So he'd have to go back and find her, no matter what the cost. His dignity, his life, whatever. First and foremost, he was doing this for himself, so he could stop being utterly miserable while both asleep and awake.

But... he also really wanted to see Sadie again. It no longer seemed so impossible to admit that now. To hear her voice, to see her smile, to have her do all his chores at the Big Donut, to watch his back while he took naps. He'd never envisioned a life without all that, but now it seemed both endangered and impossibly precious.

As he stood up and flicked on his light, he felt something sharp in his pocket. Annoyed, he fished a minuscule shred of blue-green stone out of his jean pocket.

Weird. He vaguely remembered finding it somewhere, but that was it. It was small, but awfully cool looking. It was a dorky habit left over from childhood, picking up shiny things.

Shrugging, he lazily slid the shard back into his pocket just as his phone buzzed again; so demanding!

 _Steven U – 8:47 am – re:hey_

 _lars are u ok? :(_

Lars took his phone and angrily switched it off. Not just putting it in sleep mode, but actually _turning his phone off._ This was a quest; a foolish, most likely ill-fated quest, for Lars alone.

 **Chapter 9: Final Third: Sadie**

Somewhere in the off-distance, a musical tone began to sound.

It mirrored Sadie's own sorrow, layered and complex but unapologetically sad. There was a certain clarity to it; a kind of vibrancy that seemed unusual to her now.

Sniffing, she raised her head. The sound was alluring; reaching deep into her mind. Squinting, the saw that a vibrating blue-green light was floating in the distance.

Well, it couldn't hurt her any worse. Hopefully.

Sadie walked slowly towards the source of the dancing music and light, a willing moth to a flame. It was so strange… so alien. What was-

Sadie was knocked back as a huge creature reared up out of the soot. Bellowing and hissing, Sadie's world became the wonderful emerald-blue of the monsters body.

Her first impression of the thing was the flowing mane.

Long tendrils emerged from its body, gliding together and flowing just like thick long hair underneath the water. This undulating movement never ceased, a mesmerizing coat that surrounded the creature's narrow head and covered its body. Ribbons tapered from long pointed ears, and it had a narrow, almost skeletal face with a sharp snout that opened to reveal rows of small pointed fangs. Large crystal formations peaked out from beneath the tendrils on its back, like coral covered with gentle anemones.

It was the definition of a sublime animal, albeit not one native to Earth.

Whining and clicking, it twitched its head much like a bird trying to get a good bead on its prey. It jerked closer to Sadie, then back, opening its glowing mouth and wailing.

"Shhhhhh..." Sadie whispered. "It's ok, huh? It's ok…" Sadie cooed at this monstrosity, feeling no fear in a world that could never kill her.

The animal leaned closer, and she looked it straight in the eye; round, sad eyes with bright white pupils.

"Hey, hey, you're just lonely, huh? Can we be friends? I'm just lonely too." She held out her hand in a careful gesture of appeasement.

The creature sniffed at her hand, clicking deep in its throat. Sadie held her breath.

Suddenly it pushed forward, running the side of its face against her arm like a cat, hissing softly. Sadie felt a slight electrical tingling on her arms as she was enveloped by its lashing mane, feeling a deep sense of calm come over her.

Was this another dream? She didn't feel the usual fog of confusion that came with the lower-level dreams…

Closing her eyes, she laid her check against the greenish monsters slender head.

"Have you been here the whole time?" she whispered. "What are you? You're wonderful." Sadie felt totally safe inside the gently glowing blanket of its mane, more at peace than she had been in her entire life. The monsters soft clicks and eerie humming filled her ears. So beautiful.

The creature reared back, clicking at Sadie urgently, leaning back and forth playfully.

"Hey, what should I call you? Hmm?" She brushed her hand along the monsters long tail as it circled her.

A word began to form in the back of her mind, slowly fading into life.

"I see…"

"Dioptase."

"That's kind of long. How about I just call you Di? For short?" Sadie spoke conversationally, feeling that maybe the creature did understand.

It clicked and tossed its fantastic tendrils, long claws flashing on bird like feet as it clattered about happily.

"Alright, Di. What's up? Do you need something?"

It swept its elegant face back around to meet her, and she somehow read need in those bright eyes. It leaned up on its hunches, it's chest emerging as the sea of wisps split wide. Set into its body was a ring of jagged indents, like a collar.

But only a single blue green shard, the one in the center, was actually in place. The other indents remained empty.

Sadie went blind as a series of location flashed through her mind; in each one a shard of Dioptase waiting.

Vision returning, she gasped.

"You need all of those back, don't you? You're incomplete without all of them." Sadie supposed. "And you need my help?"

The creature clicked in agreement, nudging her with its nose.

"No problem, Di. I'll help you out."

Sadie felt finally complete. She had a friend. A goal. Purpose and reason.

She smiled. "We'll complete you together."


	11. Breaking and Entering

**Chapter 10: First Third: Lars**

Holding his arms across his chest, Lars traced a path to the Beach House, trying to stay close to the shadows.

"OW! Dang…!" He cursed as he tripped over some rocks. The problem with hiding in the shadows was that you _couldn't freakin' see in the dark._

He brought his strained eyes up to take in the Crystal Palace. Alien and imposing in the blue moonlight, that big statue seemingly casting its blank stare down at him, daring him to follow through with this insane charade…

He glanced over his shoulder, to that path along the beach and around the corner that lead back to home; his room, his bed where he could hide from his problems…

 _No!_ He'd give up later, if _actual_ obstacles got in his way. It might be huge and totally weird, but it was just a kind of house. And inside of that giant women's torso, he hoped to find Sadie.

As he crept towards the house, Lars felt an urge to direct his anger at the gems who had taken her away. But _they_ hadn't abandoned her. In fact, they might actually be trying to help her! What was the point of this if he couldn't offer Sadie any real help…?

He shook his head. If he saw her, spoke to her, made sure she was really alive… it might make him feel better. That was why he was doing this.

One of the wooden planks screamed out a CREAK as he approached the beach house door. Sweating, Lars leapt backwards and nearly tripped down the small stairs. He stood for a tense moment, but heard nothing answering his mistake from inside Steven's house.

Hands beginning to quake, he procured a small bent paper clip from his pocket. He'd gotten good at this as a kid…

But… HEY!

The door didn't have a typical lock… he wouldn't be able to use this time-tested method to get inside! He started to panic, glancing around at the porch furniture and window. Should he use a chair to break the window?!

It would be too loud… ugh! What was he DOING? Was Sadie really worth this?!

Not for Sadie. It was for him. So he could sleep again. Wait, HE certainly wasn't worth that… was it really so bad feeling tired and guilty all the time?

Just because, he tried the door.

It swung open effortlessly, leaving Lars agape. This just made his frustration dig even deeper, even though part of him was relieved. After all, the gems were super-powered alien beings… they must not worry too much about locking the doors? Because they could just smash any intruder foolish enough to walk through it!

He leaned into the house anyway, trying to make his footsteps as silent as possible. He'd never been in Steven's house… it was actually pretty normal, smelling faintly of sea salt and musty furniture… there was a kitchen and living area, and Steven's room was...

"whhoo OKAY!"

Lars gasped audibly as he heard a voice from upstairs. It was STEVEN! His ears rang with panic. Why was his room so open like that?! It didn't even have a door!

Lars glanced back to the door. It seemed miles away… and Steven might hear him running away.

The couch. He could hide behind the couch. Steven wouldn't see him, go back to sleep, and Lars could continue his search.

It would work. _It wouldn't work._

He'd have to try.

Unfortunately, Lars body proved a bit too long to fit. He hunched up his shoulders and scrambled behind the furniture as quickly as he could, biting his lip as Steven loitered on the stairs, eyes wide with fear…

He couldn't stand the tension. He closed his eyes and waited, listening as Steven came down the stairs and disappeared into the bathroom. He felt sweat start to bead on his forehead. _Hurry up, you little jerk…_

"Lars?!" A voice thundered in his ears, and Lars slowly opened his eyes to see Steven standing over him, looking both confused and relieved. A sort of relief flushed over Lars as well; he could stop hiding. Stop worrying. Stop trying. Game over.

"What are you doing here? That's a relief…" Steven gushed.

Lars scrambled to get free of his hiding spot, and Steven helped by grabbing his legs and pulling.

"Ugh! Steven!" Lars hissed, nearly accidentally kicking Steven in the face. "Why'd you have to wake up?"

"You're the one… trespassing! In MY house!" Steven yelled indignantly, and Lars shushed him.

"Are the… others… here?" Lars ventured, eyes shifting.

"You mean the Crystal Gems?" Steven replied. "Probably. But what are YOU doing here?! You hardly ever reply to my texts! Everyone is so worried about you. Even Sadie's mom… she asked about you at the vigil…"

Lars blushed visibly and looked away, balling his fists. Why did Steven have to make him feel _worse?_

"It's… just… hard to deal with, ya know?"

Steven had tears flooding his eyes.

"But we can help you deal with it!" Steven said, grabbing the taller human around the waist with a tight hug, gazing up at him with sad, starry eyes.

For a moment Lars flushed with anger, but it collapsed under the weight of Steven's empathy.

"Sorry," he said, barely a whisper. "But… I'm not the one you should be worried about. Sadie… she's the one who needs help. It's stupid for people to be worried about me!"

His heart was pounding. It was true. This wasn't just for him. It was for Sadie.

"Is that why you're here?" Steven asked.

"Yes." Lars sighed. "I just... I keep dreaming about her… It's not fair! I… I miss her." He paused. "A lot."

Lars refused to even look at Steven as he said this. He was amazed those words had come out of his mind; he must have been more fatigued than he thought.

"Well… I can show her to you…" He started, and Lars looked right at him, his eyes lighting up. "But… she's asleep and…"

Lars leaned down, grabbing Steven by his shoulders. "PLEASE! That's why I came here! I have to see her! See if I can help her from the real world!" Would it really be this easy? Just asking Steven for a favor?! Steven would even believe that he had a solution… he could easily trick Steven…

"Pearl said…" he began, but Lars begged Steven with his eyes, his slumped shoulders, that tense and hopeful grip.

"Ok. I'll see what I can do."

 **Chapter 10: Second Third: Sadie**

Sadie walked alongside her magnificent alien companion, feeling its long tendrils warp around her arm as they kept pace with one another. The ugly winds of the nightmare seemed to work around the beast's body, leaving Sadie free of the stinging lash she had grown so used to.

Out of nowhere, the sound of dance music caught Sadie's ear, and she paused, listening for the source. The image of a dance hall illuminated only by glow sticks faded into view, and she heard a voice call her name.

"Yo, Sadie! You made it!" Sour Cream called to her from the DJ stand, smiling. Sadie waved back; hadn't she missed his last big rave for work? She always wanted to see what it was like! She approached the dance floor, excited.

Suddenly a wild screeching filled her ears, and a massive blue-green blur rushed up beside her. Di was screaming at Sour Cream and the scene before her, its fur lashing angrily. She gasped, the reality of the dream darkening. She felt the soft touch of Di's fur, pulling her back to the top of the nightmare.

The creature gazed at her with concern, clicking rapidly as the dream vanished with a whimper.

"You… you protected me." Sadie whispered in awe. Di had saved her the agony of yet another dream; defended her from the lies and disappointment that lay within.

She caressed its soft bony nose, thanking it.

"We where trying to find those shards for you, weren't we? Ok, lets stay focused. Sorry." She said apologetically.

She let Di lead the way, gradually breaking into a run as the creature became more and more excited.

Sadie stayed focused on the soft greenish glow of her companion, careful not to stray into another dream. But it seemed to be leading somewhere concrete.

A wide room roared into life around them. A rich red color permeated everything; thick wires coiling up the wall like vines. At the circular pit sat in the center, patterns of lines cut into the floor around it. It was a fascinating, otherworldly place. Surely a dream but… perhaps Di's dream, and not her own.

Sadie walked slowly into the room, but squeaked in pain as she bumped her nose into an invisible wall. Muttering, she held her hands out like a deranged mime, tracing a circular prison around her. As she studied the air around her, she noticed how the air distorted where the "invisible" force field waited.

Di was beside her, whining anxiously and gesturing towards the curved wall.

Sadie placed a palm on the edge, a question her eyes. Di clicked and clawed at the field urgently. Sadie raised her fist and knocked on the invisible wall, eliciting a wail of glee from Di.

"You want ME to break it?" It seemed absurd that Sadie could accomplish an act of force better than this powerful monster. Di shook its head in apparent agreement.

Breathing deep, Sadie took a lighthearted punch at the force field. To her surprise, her hand didn't feel any pain from the impact. Emboldened, she punched it harder.

Di flowed around her, howling in excitement, urging her on. Each collision filled her with a sense of power, and she worked herself into a rhythm, willing the transparent jail to shatter and let them free.

 **Chapter 10: Final Third: Lars**

Lars waited miserably in the living room as Steven pleaded with the gems to let them visit Sadie.

"…no, Steven, I told you once and I will tell you an infinite number of time… no!" The tallest gem was berating Steven with a stern, very momish voice. All three of the weird ladies stood around Steven, who was arguing on Lars behalf.

Lars felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face, burning up with embarrassment and worry. This was NOT what he had in mind when he had tried to sneak into the Crystal Palace to find Sadie ON HIS OWN. But Steven couldn't get into the place where Sadie was held without the other gems help! And the other gems did not seem keen on letting Lars get what he wanted.

It was just… perfectly terrible, that's what it was. He glanced towards the door of the beach house, considering sneaking out into the night while the argument was still going on. He could feel hopeless about Sadie later on, when he had time to reflect on how badly his plan had failed.

 _thud. thud. thud._

Lars slowly became aware of this weird pounding that almost seemed like it was sounding from under his feet. He wouldn't be surprised if it was normal, but… straining his ears, he noticed that the gems had lowered their voices, and were whispering about something… had they noticed the sound too?

"Lars! Hurry! Get on the warp pad with us, we're going to Sadie!" Steven was calling to him in an urgent tone, running towards him.

The situation had changed dramatically.

The gems had sprung into action, racing for the big crystal pad in the far corner of the room, bodies tense with worry.

"Wait, what?" Lars stammered, as Steven grabbed his hand and started to drag him towards the waiting gems.

All three scary women started to protest loudly as they saw what Steven was doing, but Lars ignored them. He raced ahead of Steven, leaping into a searing bright flash just in time. He felt his body transform into pure light and shoot off into the horrifying unknown, where, hopefully, Sadie was waiting.


	12. Crystal Shards

**Chapter 11: First Half: Sadie**

The world quaked each time Sadie slammed her fists down on the invisible field. She had forgotten just how long she'd been at, singular in action and purpose. Her clenched arms never got tired, her body made of steel, as Di danced and sang around her.

And then it finally happened.

The bubble burst, all the energy it had absorbed from Sadie's blows exploding outward into the room. Sadie landed on the floor with a wheeze; free of the trance she had worked herself into.

She felt Di's reassuring presence around her, clicking happily. But as she raised her head, what she saw confused her.

Steven, all three of his gem moms, and Lars improbably rushed into the room and stood in shock, staring at her with bewilderment.

 _What…?_

Before she get could process her thoughts, Di rushed to her side and scowled fiercely at these apparitions, her glowing jaws opened wide. Sadie was jarred back to reality.

"Oh ya." She laughed nervously. "It's just a dream. They're part of a dream." She wasn't about to get fooled again.

Di was nudging her side, urging her to get up.

An image of three blue-green shards, floating peacefully in a bubble, flashed into her mind as Di shared images with her once again.

"Ah!" Sadie called, glancing up to see similar bubbles suspended in the air above her. "THAT'S why you brought me here!

"STOP!" Someone yelled at her, and Sadie turned her head to see that Steven's gem friends had their weapons drawn, approaching her.

But Di, vibrating with fury, lunged forward and roared. It spread its mane outward, an imposing halo around a fierce set of teeth and flashing claws. The purple gem lashed a whip around Di's muzzle, but the creature lifted her off her feet with an effortless tug of its neck. It sent the little purple gem crashing into the other two, and jumped headlong into the fight.

It was an impressive sight. But Sadie had to stay focused. She started grabbing bubbles out of the air, peering inside to see if she could find the prize she wanted. Nope, too red… nope… was that a bag of chips?! Uhh… nope, wrong shape…

Distantly the battle raged behind her, but Sadie tried not to worry for Di too much. It was strong enough to hold out against any kind of dream. THERE! There it was… she leapt up for the precious bubble, but she was too darn short. She jumped up and down, willing herself to leap just a little higher…

But she gasped as she felt a gentle tap on her arm, whipping around to face her aggressor.

It was Lars. He'd somehow snuck around the chaos of the battle, and was standing right behind her.

His eyes where wide, some confusing mixture of terror and joy lingering behind them. "S-Sadie?" He said, voice rasping. "Y-you…"

Sadie roughly pushed him away from her, and he just looked on in shock. She looked up at Di's bubble in frustration, then back to Lars, and a thought occurred to her.

Maybe she could use this dream Lars to help her out.

"Lars?" She said breathlessly. "Can you…" she pointed, "Get that one down for me?"

Lars blinked, and then strolled forward and effortlessly lifted the bubble out of the air with his long arms. "Why do you need this…?" He croaked.

Sadie snatched it away from him. "Thanks, Lars!" Leave it to her memories to conjure such an uncharacteristically helpful variety of Lars.

She turned to locate Di, who was still struggling against the gems. The monster titled its head and screamed at her just before it took a punch to the face from the red gem. Sadie saw a flash of what she needed to do; an image of the bubble being smashed against the ground.

"Stop her!" The gem bellowed, but Sadie lifted the bubble over her head and brought it crashing down before anyone could stop her.

It popped, the gem shards scattering to the floor.

Sadie hastily leaned down to pick them up just as Di rushed over to shield her, some kind of bright beam jetting from its jaws. She glimpsed Steven using his bubble shield to defend the gems from this onslaught.

As she held the cool stones in her palm, she felt a tingling sensation run up her hand and down her arm as they vanished into her flesh. Sadie reeled in surprise; but somehow she felt stronger; this was weird, but it wasn't bad.

Di was beside her, revealing the collar of indents on its body.

Four gems sat in place where only one had one been before. Only two slots remained open.

"So… this is what I need to do to help you?" Sadie asked slowly. "When I collect them, it helps you..."

Di raised her elegant head and trilled in agreement.

Sadie looked up to see the gems, Steven, and Lars recovering from Di's attack. Lars was standing closer, hunched over in fear as Di titled its head at him with a curious, hungry sequel.

Sadie saw a flash of yet another gem shard; the smallest one of all, resting tightly in Lars pocket!

"Lars!" Sadie yelled, wasting no time. "Give me that shard in your pocket!"

But Lars didn't have time to react as Di leapt into him, pinning him down with clawed feet. It tore violently at his legs, attempting to remove the shard by force.

"DI! STOP! He woulda given it to us-" Sadie cried in alarm.

With a sharp whistling keen, a long alabaster spear soared through the air and stabbed Di in the shoulder, narrowly missing its neck. Sadie heard the gems yell out in triumph, drowned out by Di's howl of agony. The purple gem lashed her whip around Di' back leg, dragging creature off of Lars.

Panicked, Sadie rushed over. She plunged her hand into Lar's torn pocket, lifting the shard up in a clenched fist and calling to Di.

"Stop."

Lars had grabbed her arm, and was staring up at her with horror in his eyes. "What are you trying to do?" he croaked.

Sadie unclenched her hand; the shard had already dissolved into her flesh.

"I'm breaking free of this nightmare." She replied, voice cold and confident, shaking off his grip. "Sorry you had to get involved," she said, feeling twinge of true regret that she had to watch her friends, even dreamed up versions of them, suffer at her hands.

Wailing, Di limped over with startling speed despite its injuries. Sadie closed her eyes as it snatched her up by the back of her shirt, tossing her unto its back.

Getting a grip on the monster's shoulders with her legs, she grabbed its long ears like handle bars as a sea of tendrils waved about her. She held her breath as Di leaned down and flattened those ears in perpetration for takeoff.

Heart pounding like mad, Sadie knew they where only a single shard away from completing Dioptase. She wasn't sure what would happen when they did find all the shards- but she knew it would be worth it. It was the only desire she had left; her thoughts merging with the instincts of the creature she had befriended in her darkest hour.

With an impossibly loud roar, Di shot a stream of blue-green energy up through the ceiling. It rent the side of the entire structure with ease, leaving a gaping hole that invited blue moonlight into the dark red room. A blast of light launched by one of the gems nearly knocked Sadie off of Di's back, burning off the ends of her hair.

With a single monumental leap, Sadie and Dioptase exploded into the cool Beach City night, seeking the remaining shards they needed to end this nightmare.

 **Chapter 11: Second Half: Pearl**

The ragged group stood in shock, watching as tiny bits of rubble scattered into the bruised battlefield of the Burning Room.

"Ohhhh this is a disaster!" Pearl collapsed, her head spinning. "I couldn't have predicted… but I should have... how did she break out of the bubble?! It should have been impossible!" Pearl's voice was rising to a scream.

"And then we just left those other shards on a freakin' platter for her! We really junked this one up." Amethyst caressed her arm where the monster had bit her.

Pearl was inconsolable. "She's just a human… but a corrupted gem has NEVER broken free of a bubble from the inside before. Not ever in recorded history! They don't go free unless someone lets them free. I should have seen it… I kept on talking about how this was "unprecedented" and "unique" but I didn't treat it as such…"

Amethyst huffed. "Well, it was YOUR bubble that it broke out of… none of Rose's bubbles have ever popped…"

Pearl snapped, nearly lunging at Amethyst. How DARE she-!

"Guuuys, stop stop! Don't fight right NOW!" Steven rushed between the two gems, holding out his hands. "You guys saw the swirly monster that came out of her arm! That was crazy!"

"It _was_ crazy."

Garnet finally spoke; standing stock still as she gazed into the huge hole that monster had punched into their most scared temple.

"We need to find out where it went, and stop it. Now."

"W-well… it seems like it's trying to re-form the original Dioptase gem through that humans body. But… I thought we HAD collected all the shards of Dioptase! If any are left, they must be so small as to not emit any kind of detectable signal." Pearl's mind raced, trying to figure her way around the situation that she had woefully underestimated. If Dioptase managed to collect all of her shards…

Pearl recalled the tempting vision she had of a gem-human hybrid; her desire to know if such a working symbiotic relationship was possible, and if such a creature would be worth anything on the battlefield. She might be able to find out after all… but not on her own terms.

Amethyst cracked her whip angrily. "It was pretty strong as it was. And what is that girls deal? Shouldn't she be on OUR side?"

Steven shook his head sadly. "Sadie is a good person… she has to have a reason…"

The tall adolescent male human that had been following them (most irritatingly) shuffled out of the shadows, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to form a reply while under the heat of so many expectant gazes. What could _he_ possibly know?

"S-she thinks she's dreaming…" he said quietly, and Amethyst yelled, "Yo, speak up!"

"I- I think she's dreaming! Or she thinks she is! That… freaky _thing_ is controlling her!" Lars finished.

"Ya! That's it!" Steven agreed with enthusiasm.

Pearl frowned. There was no proof that this was the actual case, but if it made them feel better…

Garnet strolled towards Lars. "YOU had one of those shards. Why?" Her voice was stern, and Lar's tan skin paled.

"I just found it!" To Pearl's surprise, he sounded just as defensive as afraid. "I found it… at the Big Donut, I think? After the monster attack. I don't have anything to do with what happened to Sadie! I had no idea what it was!" he cried.

The "Big Donut" was that food place Steven liked to hang out. It was where they fought the corrupted Dioptase the first time…

"That's it!" Pearl exclaimed, even as she saw that Garnet was way ahead of her. "Any remaining shards must be there! We HAVE to stop it before it digs them all up!"

"What if we don't?" Lars rasped.

"It'll be BAD." Garnet replied flatly, and the gems readied themselves for another big fight.


	13. Tipping Point

**Chapter 12: First Half: Sadie**

Sadie relished in the power and speed of her ride; nighttime air lifting up her hair and cooling her back. Di raced down the hillside with smooth, elegant leaps, enduring its injuries.

They came up on the Big Donut so fast, Sadie scarcely registered where Di was going. She shielded her face as the monster crashed into the front window, a plume of shattered glass scattering unto the slick floor as the beast collapsed into the front of the store. It knocked into a table and fell to its side, launching Sadie behind the counter.

"Uuuugggghhh." She grumbled, called to her feet by Di's weak cries of pain.

The stab wound that pierced its side looked deep, and Di was suffering. But as Sadie approached, the creature lifted it head and began to pound at the floor, slamming each side of its snout into the titled floor rhythmically. It whined at Sadie, and she saw a vision of the last shard.

It was buried beneath the repaired flooring, beckoning with a glint.

"Ok, hold on… just stop!" Sadie said breathlessly, disturbed by the echo of muscle on thick plastic. "I'll get the shovel! She knew there had been one somewhere in the janitors closest ever since the monster attacks had gotten worse…

Racing back with the implement in hand, Sadie watched Di poured a hot wave of her glowing energy beam into the floor. It melted its target, revealing a layer of sandy dirt sitting on the concrete foundation. Di then collapsed, sides heaving.

"It's ok… I'll find it… I'll find it…" Sadie muttered, trying not to consider the apparent mortality of her companion.

As she dug frantically at the stinking puddle Di had created, searching for a flash of green, Di got to its feet and stood over her, clicking urgently.

Shadows crossed over them. They'd been followed by the gems.

"No, no, no, no… just a few more seconds…" Sadie continued, hearing commanding protests from the arrivals.

A horrific alien scream shuddered out into the night. Sadie shut her eyes, groping blind in the dust, knowing that Di was giving her last breath in the fight to defend this little fetch quest…

"Ouch!" Sadie reared back, her finger smarting.

There it was. The last shard. Sadie felt the sting of tears.

"I did it." She whispered.

The final shard captured the weak moonlight rays, vanishing into her flesh like a drop of dye dunked into water.

 **"Thank you."**

A voice, rich and silky like a rush of shadow over ocean waves, spoke as Sadie felt a hand on her shoulder. The world flushed green and blue.

Slowly she turned around to face the source, a sublime fear taking hold of her.

Cat-like eyes, golden with sharp black shadows cut into them, gazed into hers. A thick mane of tendrils crept around Sadie's face, her neck, her entire body.

"Are you Dioptase?" Sadie managed to ask, the slight electrical tingling rising to a scream of pain.

"I sure am. And I honestly appreciate what you've done, stunning work, but it's time for you to go. I've done using you for now." The face spoke with all the cruel impossibility of a ghost.

"Using? I don't under-"

The Big Donut was gone, replaced by an infinite horizon and a vast sea of thin, glittering water.

Sadie was trapped in the deepest part of the dream. Alone. Abandoned.

 _Betrayed._

She fell to her knees beside a single tree, staring blankly through a canopy towards a pale blue sky, too exhausted to cry.

 **Chapter 12: Second Half: Lars**

Pearl had stabbed the big dinosaur-wolf right in the throat, and it died trashing and howling among the remains of yet another Big Donut window. Steven had repeated the names of the gems to Lars; Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst. He was happy that they seemed to be having an easier time in this second round.

He felt a rush of hope, covering his ears as the death wail of the creature pounded on his brain. Maybe Sadie was free now!?

"That was awesome…" Steven was standing next to him, in awe of the scene. Lars felt the tug of curiosity, but he stayed put. His leg smarted where the beast had cut him with its jaws, but the memory of Sadie's coldness stung even more.

Lars watched through the broken window as the beast was torn apart as if by some invisible wind, its long mane shredded into dust. Pearl leapt back as the remaining glow vanished in a rush back into Sadie's hunched body.

Steven and Lars yowled as a blinding white flash exploded from the building, fading into that sickly blue-green glow Lars had come to hate. The group all struggled against a pulsating wind, gathering outside of the Big Donut in a semi circle.

Through the chaos in the restaurant, Lars glimpsed Sadie's body. She was standing up, swaying slightly.

"Sadie!" Lars croaked, starting towards her, but Steven held him back.

"…something's… wrong…" Steven said slowly, and his tone was so unusually nervous that Lars actually obeyed.

Sadie turned slowly and strolled out of the restaurant on bare feet, crunching over glass without flinching. The only sound was the hiss of an ocean breeze blowing from behind the expectant group. The air nipped at Lars skin, cool moonlight drawing long shadows across the ground.

Lars felt ill as a long, tick mane of tendrils lashed out of her arm, not in the form of a creature this time, but an abstract mass far more terrifying, more real. He gasped in horror as the tendrils swung underneath Sadie, lifting her up into the air. A hazy blue-green light glowed from her already pale skin, dying her blonde hair blue.

Sadie raised her head, a blank smile on her face, body relaxing into the throne of pulsating tentacles.

Finally, Sadie spoke, but not in her own voice.

"Look at what I have become! STUNNING WORK!" She opened her arms, the tendrils opening into a fascinating fractal shape behind her.

The gems all stood in shock, eyes narrowed at this bizarre circus that floated before them. Lars felt the world sink beneath him. Surely, this was another nightmare!

"Well? Too moved to speak?" Sadie-not-Sadie purred, her eyes glancing over to Lars; and he recoiled as he saw that the pupils glowed a pure white. Sadie's hair undulated in sync with the tendrils, her curls unwinding.

"Dioptase!" Garnet roared. "You must let that human go free."

Dioptase, as the thing possessing Sadie was apparently called, ignored the gems command, gently touching the blue-green stone that was soldered into her left arm. Lars recognized the spot where Sadie's cut had been.

"What did you call me?" Dioptase purred. "Oh, yes. _"Underwhelming."_ I remember it like it was YESTERDAY!" Her voice rose to a scream, making the air shudder.

"And YOU…!" She turned to Amethyst, the tentacles becoming aggressive. "I believe you said I was "stupid" and "weird" and "air-headed."

"And finally…" Dioptase soared over to Pearl.

 _"A selfish, careless plagiarist."_ Harsh critics, the Crystal Gems." Dioptase sneered through Sadie's face. "As if I was the only one to take some cues from the humans!"

"And look," her voice softened again, "now it seems I AM one. Surely, THIS must have impressed some part of your limited sensibilities!"

Pearl held her spear at the ready. "You can't use living things for your own self centered experiments!"

"EXPERIMENTS?" Dioptase laughed. "As if I would waste my energy on EXPERIMENTS! This is an EXPERINCE! A full, complete expression of what I SENSE and how I FEEL as told to you through a set of SYMBOLS. This is ART!" As she spoke, the tendrils continued to produce complex, swirling shapes, hissing as they soared through the air.

Amythest grunted. "Pffft, what an attention loving hack. She hasn't changed a bit."

"The home world told me to use my abilities only to FIGHT for THEM! They denied me the RIGHT of the creative struggle… and YOU rejected me as well, so now you despise me as I am doomed to practice on the edge of MEANING… we are ALL selfish!" Dioptase was ranting now, her head facing the sky.

"Surrender the human or we will defeat you, in the name of Rose Quartz!" Pearl hollered.

"Oh?" Dioptase stilled the many tentacles. The sight of Sadie, her body twisted in so many unnatural ways, continued to make Lars nauseous.

"But you MUST witness my latest work…" she muttered, her voice scarcely a whisper, but somehow painfully loud. "It's a collaboration between myself, this girl, and the other humans of this town. Dreams are my latest medium, such a quality canvas you would never try to understand as I have, ABSTRACT and then CONCRETE and then abstract once more… EMOTION and MEMORY colliding into a billion different hues…"

"We know what dreams are!" Steven's voice rang clear in the tense air. "What did you do to Sadie?!"

Diopsate suddenly turned her vacant eyes towards them, twisting the gem in her arm.

"Imagination and emotion made real; is there any higher art form?!" She spoke calmly at first, but then her voice exploded in a shout.

"I ONLY WANT YOU TO KNOW ME AS I KNOW MYSELF!"

The world was torn apart in a blue green flash, a painful electrical current flowing through Lar's body. He opened his eyes, blinking, and everything looked the same for an instant, but…

Emerging from the rippling air was some kind of… person, no, an animal, it was… the Sneople?!

 _The Sneople from the nightmare?!_

Lars mind reeled as the creatures lunged towards the Crystal Gems, a very real fight breaking out between imaginary monsters and concrete ones. With a cracking hiss, the Big Donut exploded into a green flame, illuminating the horrifying scene before him.

Lars felt that familiar darkness of panic closing in on him, his legs ordering him to run, run, far away. This… thing that had taken hold of his friend was bringing her nightmare to LIFE?

"IT _MUST_ BE AN ILLUSION!" He heard Garnet call out in the confusion. "DON'T LET HER FOOL YOU!"

"Are you so SURE about that?" Lars heard Dioptase call back, hanging upside down in the air and swinging her arms. "Look at what I can DO with these DREAMS made REALITY! STUNNING!"

He watched as massive chunks of glass shot out of the earth, filling the air with sand as the gems were forced to dodge them. Dioptase seemed focused on the gems, with Lars and Steven was simply caught up in the crossfire.

 _Why is my life so horrible?_ Lars wailed inwardly.

What could Lars he do?! He was just one weak human… He couldn't help Sadie or Steven or anyone…

He turned on his heels to run.

The next breath he was about to take was crushed out of his body unexpectedly. Something knocked him back, but as he jerked his head around to find it, he saw nothing. But he _heard_ loud footsteps, and a deadly sense of dejavu came over him.

Something reared before him, suddenly coated in thick gray mud. It was the monster from the island; come back from the depths of a nightmare to finish the job it had started.

As the monster slammed back down, Lars looked the beast straight in the face and saw that it was a mirror reflection of his own, so close it was breathing on him.

It grinned, and Lars felt faint with fear. Somewhere, he seemed to hear the crackle of a fire and wail of a child in distress. He had returned to that nightmare, and in that moment he was convinced he'd die in it too.

"You never said you were SORRY!" The creature slurred, and Lars leapt back as it swiped at his head.

Lar's felt his heart darken with fury. His fear boiled into a thick paste of self-hatred.

 _Why was he running away!?_

If he survived, he'd just spend the rest of his life living in regret! It wouldn't get any better if he just ran from everything that hurt. It would just keep getting worse. At some point, he had to end it.

"Shut UP!" he screamed, punching towards the monsters face but whiffing his only shot.

Laughing uncontrollably, the beast brought its massive hands down on his head, and he blacked out instantly.


	14. Captives

**Chapter 13: First Half: Lars**

Lars awoke to pain; a steady drum beating on the back of his head. He hissed as he stood up, gingerly touching his face to make sure nothing was broken.

He opened his eyes to a still, minimalist scene, wondering why the horrors of the living nightmare had vanished.

He was standing in a thin layer of clear water over sand. The sky was a pale blue that faded into a yellow so thin it was almost white. He rubbed his eyes, making sense of the only real landmark in the distance. A grand oak tree, trunk thick with healthy leaves, stood alone on a small island. A path rose out of the water that aimed straight for it.

He wheezed as he recognized the shape resting under the shade. _Sadie!_

Fighting pain in his wounded body, he raced towards the island. Could it really be the ACTUAL Sadie? The Sadie he remembered, smart and strong and hopelessly kind… at last…

"Hey! Sadie!" he gasped, finally reaching the island. "Hey! Are you ok? HEY?!" His voice cracked as she didn't reply, lying listlessly against the trunk of the tree with eyes half open.

"Sadie… please… c'mon…" he pleaded weakly, crouching next to her. He curled up on against the trunk of the tree, wrapping his arms around Sadie's shoulders and pressing his face into her hair. She was warm, breathing slowly. She smelled nice, just like every morning when she came into work. He sobbed gently, feeling deeply sorrowful but somehow peaceful.

"I'm sorry." Lars whispered.

"What for?"

Lars jerked back as Sadie replied, glaring at him. He let go of her and scooted back, heart pounding.

"For everything, I mean… f-for… _for leaving you behind_!" Lars stammered.

Sadie leered at him, looking almost suspicious of this outburst. Her shoulders shuddered... was she laughing?! "I didn't see that way..." she muttered. "But you make a good point... you _did_ run away..."

His chest burned with fear; Lars was unable to accept the threat of rejection. Words tumbled out before his mind could proofread them for accuracy. He scrambled for something profound that could make it right.

"Also, I guess, it's more than that, that I ran way, it's just... i act kind of lame all the time… and i can be a real jerk a lot to you… just because I'm in a bad mood it's not an excuse… i wish..."

"Well." Sadie sighed; turning to face him. "I'm sorry too."

Lars was floored. "What for?!" He demanded.

Sadie glanced away, still looking listless. "For always getting in your face when what you needed was space. For trapping you and Steven on that island. For trying to "fix" you."

Lars blinked in surprise. She was right, wasn't she? Sadie had done some stupid things. Really, really stupid, hurtful things.

She continued to contemplate the unbroken horizon. All of her spirit was gone, and Lars sensed a deep hurt that he had never once glimpsed before.

"Well…" he paused, feeling angry and sympathetic and confused, "I'm willing to forgive you."

Sadie turned to him. "As long as I forgive _you_ , though?"

"No!" Lars cried, furious. "It doesn't have a "condition!" Who would forgive somebody like that?!"

"It's ok!" Sadie almost laughed. "I'll forgive you too, out of the goodness of my heart."

"Jeez, Sadie… well, whatever, glad that's over." He awkwardly rubbed his head. "Are… you… ok?"

"No I'm not." She said quietly. "Somebody I trusted betrayed me. I was used."

Lars mind raced. "That Dioptase person?!" he gasped. Memories flooded back, memories that had nearly been lost to his concussion.

"That JERK!" he yelled. "She's got your body! And she's tearing it up! In the REAL WORLD! Bringing nightmares to life and attacking people!"

"Wait…" Sadie narrowed her eyes. "None of this is REAL."

She snorted, throwing out her arms. "Dioptase sent me to the deepest part of the nightmare. You're just something I conjured up to make myself feel better. I'm dreaming. R-right?" Suddenly she looked uncertain, her eyes darting all over Lars.

There was a pause.

"WHAT-EVER!" Lars roared. "I'm LARS and your SADIE and if this is a dream or whatever I don't even care, we have to get out of here! And… save you, Sadie! We have to stop that Dio-howeveryousayit person!"

He flushed as he remembered how he had tried to run away AGAIN. But that didn't matter! Sadie didn't have to know about that. What mattered was how he felt in this fiery instant.

Sadie stood up, holding his gaze. "Then… you… you really DO forgive me?! And you actually told me you where SORRY?" Light was returning to her eyes.

Lars blushed. Why was that so weird?! "YES!" he cried. "All that happened. Although YOU didn't think it was real?! Jeez, Sadie…!"

"Well, I meant it! Don't worry!" she said earnestly, and unexpectedly grabbed his hand. "Thank you."

Lars squeezed her hand in reply, a bit lightheaded.

"But… why? How are you here?" Sadie asked as they stood together, facing the pastel expanse of dream all around them.

Lars tried to remember. "I… whoa, am I like… dead? I got knocked out cold!" He left out the part about the monster with his face. Nobody else needed to know.

"Maybe you got knocked out so far… you fell into here?" She laughed, a rich and honest sound. "It really doesn't make any sense!" She shot Lars a sharp glimpse from the corner of her eyes. "If you turn out to be another dream… I'll finally go nuts for real."

"I'm real! Stop worrying!" Lars growled. "Heh… maybe we're _both_ dead. Actually not so bad, huh?"

"I could… _live_ … with it." Sadie said, smiling.

"Wow." Lars snorted.

"I'd rather live in the real world, though." Sadie said. "How… how can we get out of here? We both KNOW that we're in some kind of dream, but here we are. What's the trick to it?!"

She gumbled. "It's Dioptase… she's keeping me in here! SHE'S been keeping me stuck here the whole time. That lying sack of-" Sadie squeezed Lars hand, and he squeezed back, wanting her to know he shared her righteous anger.

"Maybe if we wait for her to get defeated in the real world… we'll come out alright?" Lars ventured, although it sounded way too easy.

"Too easy." Sadie replied, echoing his thoughts as she sometimes did.

"There HAS to be a solution." Sadie said, sounding optimistic and confident like she used to.

 **Chapter 13: Second Half: Steven**

The world had gone insane.

Every monster or disaster that had existed in the shared dream was emerging from thin air, wrecking chaos on the world. Garnet kept on shouting that it was an illusion, but it was the most convincing one Steven had ever seen.

"Shut UP!" Steven started at Lars voice, thick with rage.

He turned to see his friend clobbered by the mud beast from the dream, collapsing.

"LARS!" Steven wailed, but as he raced over to try and defend the human's frail body, the monster shuddered, parts of its body dissolving.

Steven turned around once again, his ears and eyes filled with the keen light… of gem fusion!

"ALEXANDRITE!" Steven ooed, watching as the huge, multicolored fusion emerged from the light. She snatched Dioptase right out of the air. His heart leapt; part of him still seeing Sadie gripped in the hands of the gems most powerful yet most unstable fusion.

But the nightmare creatures started to fade around him, bodies breaking into clouds of black dust as Alexandrite opened her fanged mouth, lifting Diopstate up as if she was food. Thick masses of tentacles struggled against the frankenstein body of Alexandrite, but it looked hopeless.

"Noo! Sadie! Guys, stop!" Would they really kill Sadie, an innocent human, in order to stop Dioptase!?

"BRUTE FORCE?" Diopstate was howling. "INELEGANT!"

Steven gasped as a mass of tentacles shot past him, knocking him off his feet. They engulfed Lars still body, hissing and glowing, as Steven gazed on in disbelief.

The tendrils fell away like water as Lars stood up, his body glowly just as Sadie's had. His eyes opened, bright white. Steven noticed that a tendril was connected to the back of his neck; flowing into the sand and across the beach. Did it lead back to Sadie?!

"This… will have to do for now." Lars gasped, speaking in Dioptase's voice. This caught Steven's attention before he could call out to Alexandrite, transfixed by this new development. Dioptase opened Lars eyes with surprise as she gave Steven a close look for the first time.

"YOU…" Lars mouth peeled open in a wide smile. "You're not a human. ROSE QUARTZ?"

"No, I'm St-" Before he could finish, powerful tentacles swirled around his wrists and lifted up around his body, morphing into the form of a massive hand. He squirmed as it lifted up his shirt, shocking him with slight electrical pulses as it examined the gem in his stomach.

He realized with shock that the hand that held him was a slick sickly green color, just like Peridot's big scary ship! He tried to remember which townsperson had a nightmare about the recent attack…

"What… STUNNING WORK!" Diopstase cried. "You never struck me as such a creative type, Rose! Perhaps I'm NOT as original as I thought! You're part HUMAN now? STUNNING, STUNNING!" Dioptase was beneath Steven, tilting Lars head at him ravenously.

A roar shook the air as Alexandrite turned her attention to the captured Steven.

Dioptase lifted Lars body up, staring Alexandrite down.

"AH but how would like YOUR LEADER to be my next CANVAS?" she cooed, and Steven felt the hand tighten its grip on his body. He whimpered, wishing he wasn't so helpless. What good was his shield now?!

Bellowing, Alexandrite split into the three Crystal Gems in a white flash. They landed unceremoniously on the ground.

"Guys!" Steven called. "Don't uh, worry about me! Stop Dioptase!" He called, doing his best to sound brave. "But don't hurt Lars or Sadie!" He added quickly.

Garnet, Pearl, and Amythest got to their feet, looking dreadfully confused. Pearl summoned her spear, but her hands wavered. Garnet clenched her fists.

"COWARD!" Amethyst snarled, but Dioptase just smiled.

"Ah but the very ACT of creating is BRAVE." She yammered, and Steven wanted to slap her.

Like spilled sand, the nightmare began to trickle back together. The Snepole, the mud monster, the fires, the glass…

"You really aren't that creative!" Steven yelled at Dioptase, who scowled and gripped him even tighter.

"You might not say that when I'm finished working on YOU."


	15. Waking Up

**Chapter 14: First Third: Sadie**

Sadie sat beneath the big oak tree, watching as Lars paced around the short length of the island.

"We could just get up and walk." Lars ventured for the second time, brushing a hand through his poof of orange hair, betraying nervousness.

"What if we just walked forever? It's the most obvious choice, but… it just doesn't feel like you can walk out of this." Sadie countered.

"Ya. I guess." Lars sighed. "We just don't have much to work with here." He stood and closed his arms.

"Lars, come sit." Sadie asked, patting the space next to the trunk.

His eyes darted back and fourth for a moment, but he relented, hunching his shoulders as he plopped down next to her.

The air was perfection; cool and dry enough to prevent sweating but still comfortably warm. A slight wind rustled the leaves in the tree, casting dancing shadows over both figures.

Lars slowly relaxed, inching closer until their shoulders brushed. Closing his eyes, he twined his fingers with her open hand. Sadie answered his touch, and they drew close, gentle stillness settling across them. The urgency of "reality" seemed impossibly distant. Whatever it was, it could wait.

Sadie had never felt so close to Lars before. Maybe it's because he had come to _her_ this time. Too bad she had to basically die for it to happen but… for now, she'd settle for it, and allow herself to feel content in this dream.

"Hey." Lars said, his eyes closed as he rested his head on hers.

"Let's take a nap."

Sadie laughed sadly. "You can't… I've tried… that's the one thing you can't do here, is sleep. It's just… impossible."

"Who says…" Lars muttered. "Is this really a dream? Anything's possible then."

Sadie snuggled closer to him, wishing she could believe it. "I'm experienced with this stuff… I've been here for so long… it's impossible."

"Not THAT long." Lars said. "It'll be one day and a week tomorrow. I kept track."

A long gap of surprisingly comfortable silence lingered between them.

"I'm serious." Lars said. "We have to fight back. But maybe… maybe the best way to win is to just slow down and rest. Maybe it's… reversed. If you fall asleep here in the dream world, you will wake up in real world!"

Sadie shook her head. "Well… that sounds pretty absurd. I'll be honest though... It's as absurd as everything else in here."

But it _was_ one thing she hadn't been able to do so far in this nightmare. She'd fought as hard as she could; kicking, screaming. Maybe sleeping really was worth trying again?

"If it doesn't work, we're gonna get up and walk. For as long as it takes." Sadie said.

"Ok, it's settled then." Lars replied, and he did sound sleepy.

"Hey Sadie…"

"Ugh what... I'm trying to sleep?"

"I shouldn't have left you behind. That sucked. Maybe… maybe if I had just... stayed with you… none of this would have happened. Because we would have been together. Like this."

"Lars…" Sadie sighed, feeling a melancholy happiness wash over. "Don't worry about it. Let's just move on from what happened. All I've wanted to do this entire time is live in the present reality. Don't apologize anymore."

"Thanks." Lars replied.

Sadie let herself relax to the sensation of his breathing, the pulse in his hand.

"Lars…?" She muttered, but he didn't reply. He seemed to be asleep.

 _Lucky_ she thought, but it was all right. She was no longer alone.

Behind her, the tree had split into two shapes; a thin trunk with empty branches leaning against the powerful oak. Scattered in the water lay tiny shards of broken glass, catching the weak sunbeams and flooding the world with an exquisite glittering light.

 **Chapter 14: Second Third: Lars**

Lars struggled to open his eyes, his eyelids heavy and vision blurry.

He became aware of a heavy pressure on his head, his arms, his chest...

"AGGGGHHH!" He roared in agony, suddenly aware of some powerful force that was choking the breath from his body, trying to move his limbs in different directions, fighting his every minuet motion.

"Wha- what is this?!" Some uncanny voice sounded from his own throat, and Lars was beyond horrified.

"GO BACK TO SLEEP!" The voice screeched. "STOP IT!"

 _Screw you._ Lars thought angrily.

"YOU stop it!" He snarled.

His vision rushed back, and he saw Steven floating in front of him, gripped by some huge hand. The Crystal Gems stood below him, looking totally confused and rather disturbed.

Lars trashed his legs, tearing at his skull. Distantly he heard some manic voice burbling on and on, and he felt powerful emotional agony, but it wasn't his own…

"GET LOST!" He screamed. "Get OUT OF MY HEAD! AHHHGH!"

With a final painful squeeze, Lars felt the phantom release its command of him. He fell out of the air, crashing into the sand. Steven followed him, the big hand dissolving into dust.

"What the heck was that? Steven!?" he croaked, but Steven was staring at him in awe.

"You beat her, Lars!" he admired.

"Beat WHO? Oh… what? WHAT?" Had that been… Dioptase, in HIS head?

"Ugh, gross!" he whined out loud.

"STUNNING!" that awful voice sounded again, but this time it was coming from the other side of the beach.

And it was coming out of Sadie's mouth. Disgust washed over him like hot water.

Lars remembered sitting with Sadie under that tree, the peaceful release he'd gained from apologizing… the feel of her head on his shoulder… but now here she was, hovering in front of them like some kind of demon, surrounded by an army of wisps.

"SADIE!" He screamed, knowing it was hopeless but going for it anyway. "Sadie, you DO have to sleep! Fall asleep and then WAKE UP! I'm still here! I'm with you!"

Steven took up his cry. "Sadie! Sadie come back!" He called. The gems had huddled around Steven, facing Dioptase.

"I'm DONE with this COLLABORATION!" Dioptase shrieked, the air shuddering as she clenched Sadie's fists and stared furiously from those searing eyes.

Lars felt the earth tremble beneath him, mouth hanging open as the ocean gave way to an infinite expanse of darkness. Suddenly he was dangling on the edge of a cliff, feet scrambling for purchase as more of the world plunged into nothing.

"Steven! Help me!" He cried, reaching out for his friend. Steven just managed to grab him, and Lars clung to his tiny hand.

"I got you!" Steven said through gritted teeth, but he was skidding fast towards the edge as Lars greater weight puller him forward.

But then the gems where behind Steven, hauling Lars up in a big chain of gems.

He clambered to his feet, moving away from the expanding edge with the others. Dioptase was laughing, her voice a thorn in his brain.

If he could reach her… maybe… just maybe!

"Hey!" he called to the gems. "Could one of you, uh, throw me up to her?!"

They stared at him, seemingly dumbfounded.

"Well?" Steven yelled. "Just try it!"

Garnet nodded and reached forward, once again grabbing Lars around the waist. She tossed him neatly, giving a yell, which Lars echoed in fear as he soared through the air towards Sadie's body.

With a grunt, he landed on top of her. She was still laughing, and Lars heard the world continuing to crumble around him.

He leaned on the mass of tendrils and Sadie's body, trying to find the grip he needed.

"Sadie, I'm right here! Come on!" He howled.

But Dioptase snatched him off, tossing him back down. His shoulder burned with pain as he skidded to a stop.

Grunting, he called out "Throw me again! I want to rip that thing out of her arm!"

Pearl had heard him, and nodded furiously. "It just might work. It's more tasteful than having to… dispose of her."

 _No! I'm not giving up on her again!_

"You got it." Garnet yelled, hauling him up.

But Dioptase rocketed higher into the air, summoning huge chunks of glass as a wall around her. Dang! He could never reach her now…!

"That's GLASS, you idiot!" Amethyst yelled, cracking her whip across the impromptu shielding and breaking it into pieces with a loud shatter.

Pearl then leapt forward, slicing at the tentacles that held Sadie's body aloft. Dioptase hissed as she swayed to avoid the attacks, and summoned a single Sneperson to keep Pearl busy.

"No way!" Steven leapt towards the monster, summoning his pink shield just as it leapt for Pearl. The humanoid snake was dazed by the impact of its skull on the shield.

"AHHHH! THIS TAKES… CONCENTRATION… YOU KNOW! JUST LET ME WORK!" Dioptase sounded exhausted.

Her distraction gave Pearl just enough time to slice forward, severing the core tendrils neatly. Shrieking, Sadie's body crashed to earth.

"Let me dow-" Lars began, but Garnet threw him anyway, and he soared over an emerging wall of glass and into the sand next to Sadie, cut tendrils lashing out of her left arm. Lars held his breath, physical pain forgotten.

He tried to get his fingers around the slippery gem in her arm, feeling the jagged edges of the shards, haphazardly sewn together with flesh. The tendrils sliced angrily at his arms, but he ignored them. He tugged as hard he could, closing his eyes as Dioptase laughed in his ear. But he could still distantly hear the gems struggling to prevent dream monsters from reaching them, and he knew he had to work faster.

"LET GO!" Dioptase yelled, swinging Sadie's arm, but Lars held on, fingers aching as he tried to pull the shards apart.

"NEVER! YOU JERK! SADIE!" Lars roared, practically blinded by adrenaline.

Suddenly another hand was next to his, the fingers wrapping around the offending gem. Lars looked into Sadie's eyes; wide open as her spirit struggled to wake up from behind the glare of Dioptase. She was grabbing at the stone with her right arm, grimacing.

Together, they pulled as hard as they could, Dioptase's laughing rising into two keen screams of agony that blended with Lar's own wordless wail. In a desperate effort to escape, Dioptase lifted all three of them into the air on her shredded tentacles. But she couldn't stop what the humans had started.

Gasping, they at last pulled the gem free, lifting their arms together as strands of infection dangled from the shards of broken gem. The world seemed to go still, silence rushing in.

Clutching desperately to one another, Lars and Sadie fell back to earth slowly, as if in a dream.

 **Chapter 14: Final Third: Sadie**

Sadie was _awake._

The assertion emerged deep within her subconscious.

" _This is different."_ it assured her. Something had released a chemical grip on her mind, and her waking reality was coming back into focus. Or maybe it was just because everything hurt.

Sand… she was lying in the sand, and something was in her hand. Something vaguely green and blue, sharp around the edges. It was convulsing weakly, tiny little strings groping around her half-closed palm…

 _Dioptase!?_

Sadie wheezed, her throat so dry she didn't even try for a scream. She tossed the gem away from her, suddenly painfully alert. As she shuddered into a sitting position, she grabbed her left arm as pain exploded from the ragged wound, fighting tears. Why did everything hurt so much?! Had she simply forgotten?!

She peeked open her eyes, the glare of early dawn seeming far too vibrant. She heard voices call her name, and sensed the scramble of motion around her, but she didn't feel as if she was in danger.

Then she saw who was lying next to her, still as a chunk of driftwood that had washed ashore.

Lars.

She fell closer to him, leaning on his outstretched arms. His clothes where torn, a huge bruise on the side of his head. His leg suffered a long gash where Dioptase had bit him in her nightmare form. His eyes where half open, and Sadie tried her best to breathe again.

"Hey… hey…" she muttered, scarcely recognizing her own voice. She shook his shoulders weakly. "Get up. Wake up. Wake up… Don't…"

"I didn't know… I didn't know it was like this on the other side… I didn't know…"

He'd been fighting in reality. He hadn't run away this time. Sitting under that tree, trying to sleep within a dream, she'd heard him calling out to her… she'd felt Dioptase's sinister grip weaken… of course! How _stupid!_ She'd wasted so much energy on feeling abandoned.

 _She'd never, ever been alone!_

She began to recognize the concerned voices of Steven and the Crystal Gems, all around her. She saw that familiar beach, scarred deeply with skid marks and holes… she turned to see the Big Donut not far off, the front window shattered once again.

Of course they'd been fighting for her on the other side! Steven, the gems, even Lars...! She'd been so caught up in her own struggle she hadn't even considered what it might be like. She'd forgotten them.

She felt a pressure on her chest, and saw that Lars was using her to lift himself up! He looked painfully confused, but he was alive.

"You're ok!" she wailed, relishing in the fresh wave of relief. "What happened?!"

"Nuh?" He slurred, winching and touching his shoulder. "I… ha… I think I passed out when I hit the ground. I feel…" he screwed up his face. "Okay? UGH!" Lars recoiled as he spotted the twitching remains of Dioptase. He and Sadie huddled away from it, Sadie protectively placing her good arm over Lars as he clung to her shoulders.

They flinched as a spear crunched into the gem, separating the final tendrils holding it together. Pearl stood over them, eyes burning with rage.

"That's that." She said, stepping away as Garnet reached down and bubbled the menace at last.

"Guuuuys!" Steven raced over, crying. He was covered with bruises and cuts himself. "Are you ok?! You fell a long way!" he gasped. "You're so hurt, Sadie! And Lars, your shoulder…!"

Sadie looked up at him, and he seemed impossibly tall. It was as if her world was being recorded with a fish eye lens.

"I'm okay." She muttered, trying to clear her mind. "Now that I'm awake. I AM awake, right?" She laughed nervously, but nobody seemed to find it very funny.

"How DID you manage to wake up?" Pearl asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

"Uhhhh…." Lars and Sadie shared a look, turning back to Pearl.

"I think… I feel asleep IN the dream, so… then I woke… up? I guess? Something like that?" Lars shrugged with a cringe.

Sadie remembered it far more clearly.

"I heard Lars calling for me." She replied confidently, shooting Lars a grateful glimpse, but he was looking away. "And I think Dioptase was weakening because you guys where beating the crap out of her over here!"

"Over… here?" Steven asked, confused.

"I mean… haha… reality, in reality, not the nightmare. Because this _is_ reality." Sadie blushed as they all stared at her with dead serious faces.

"Whatever. It worked, right?" Lars was leaning on her, face twisted in an obvious attempt to hide his pain.

"Can you guys please call an ambulance?" Sadie ventured, and she realized she was leaning into Lars as well, possessed by a strong urge to lie down.

They sat together, watching the sun creep over the ocean as the sky flushed fuchsia. Soon they heard distant sirens echoing from within the city.

"I never want to go back to sleep again." Sadie said wistfully.

"But… C'mon. A dreamless sleep, then. You've earned it." Lars replied, his eyes closed.

"Actually," Sadie replied, "So have you."


	16. Dreamer's Exit

**Chapter 16: First Half: Lars**

Lars hauled the chairs off the tables, heated up the oven, flipped on the coffee machines, and opened the register. As he'd been opening the shop for about a week by himself now, these actions had become so routine his mind wandered everywhere else and he ignored the details of the mundane tasks before him. He did faintly notice that his shoulder still hurt a tiny bit, but he was used to ignoring it by now.

 _Does she remember everything as well as I do? What will she say, if she says anything at all? Is it safe to mention any of what happened now? How does her arm look? Is she ok? Will it be weird?!_

His mind raced. Sadie, Sadie, Sadie…! It got a little annoying, but he found he couldn't stop himself from thinking about her, worrying about her. Was it ok to admit…

Nah. He wasn't ready for THAT.

But he was so nervous! He'd see her _in person._ For weeks he'd texted her daily, and visited her a few times while she was stuck in bed and at home. But it was always in the company of friends. Steven, her mom, his family, the gang. This was the first time in weeks that they'd be _alone together._

He reached for his headphones in this trying time.

He glanced up towards the door just about every second, the tension building even as his favorite guilty-pleasure pop song played behind it.

He made himself close his eyes, and chill out.

Wait, no! There she was! At the door!

 _Be cool, Lars. Be cool._

 **Chapter 16: Second Half: Sadie**

The world was dyed a rich shade of maroon, the sun rising slowly into the morning sky.

Sadie was walking to work for the first time in weeks. She'd finally been able to take off that itchy cast, most of her minor cuts and bruises faded. She couldn't say the same about the deep scar on her left arm but… beggars can't be choosers. She felt lucky to be alive, deeply inhaling the crisp morning air.

She pulled out her phone, reading a message she'd gotten late last night.

 _Lars – 12:12 am – hey_

 _See you tomorrow at work. It's been really boring without you._

Really boring… she wondered what he meant by that. Would just anyone suffice to stop his shifts from being "boring?" Or was he trying to say he _missed_ her? She was overthinking his texts like she used to… He had kept in contact with her through it all; the hospital, the bed rest, that ridiculous parade.

But he'd never mentioned the dream.

She fumbled with her keys, trying to unlock the door. A tiny piece of glass glinted beneath her; a single shard that must have avoided the dustbin. Distracted, she only just noticed that the door was already unlocked!

Did… Lars actually come into work before her?

"How boring, I wonder…" she muttered to herself, swinging open the door and finding that the shop was indeed open, the lights on and chairs off the tables.

"Oh! Sadie. Hi." Lars lifted his headphones off his head, but then seemed unsure of where to direct his attention.

"Good morning. The shop looks nice." Sadie said absentmindedly, curious where the company got the money to maintain a shop that was always getting trashed by monsters.

"Ya, they repaired everything… they said the glass is double sided and bulletproof this time…" Lars said, finally glancing down at his phone.

Frustration clawed at Sadie's heart. Had nothing changed between them?! Was it really just a dream?!

Maybe Lars really didn't remember it. It WAS a dream. But Sadie could recall everything that happened in that nightmare world with crystal clarity, as if I had actually happened to the "real" her.

Lars didn't seem to, never mentioning the contents of the nightmare at all. As long as she didn't know where he stood… she couldn't do anything but pretend that she was oblivious as well.

She checked the display donuts, the ovens, the coffee machines, the register… everything was ready. Now THAT was odd…

"What?" Lars sneered. "You think I don't know how to open the shop?"

"Since you never DID, ya, I was curious." Sadie growled back. She noticed his eyes glance over her left arm and the ugly white mass of scar tissue.

She had refused to hide it with make-up; a scar was nothing to be ashamed of. But under the heat of her co-workers gaze, she felt a twinge self-consciousness, quickly turning her arm away from him.

"Hey, it's ok." Lars said, clearly trying to sound nice. "It looks… really… cool. Like… tough. Makes you look tough, that's what I mean."

He was stumbling over his words, exasperating Sadie even more. "It's really not. It's actually pretty bad. But thanks anyway." She faced the front of the shop, not looking at him as she answered.

Lars slumped his chin into his hand, leaning hard on the counter, tapping his fingers. Both of them stood in a cloud of crackling anxiety. Sadie willed a customer to come strolling in, but it was painfully early.

"Are you ok?!"

Lars burst out suddenly, clutching his head like he was in pain.

"What?" Sadie leaned away. "Of course I am. I…"

"I'm sorry this is just so _weird_ … like it's normal, but it's _weird_ …" he rambled. Sadie was reminded of the awkward days following their island adventure. It was almost the same… the long silences, the quick, accusatory glances. Sadie felt her chest tighten in misery.

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

"Stop apologizing!" Lars cried. "Isn't that what you said?!"

Sadie looked him right in the eye.

Lars rushed forward; arms open as if to hug her. She reared back in surprise, but as she registered the gesture she leaned forward to receive it. But then Lars jumped back; and they entered into an uncomfortable standoff.

"Sorry!" Lars wailed, and Sadie laughed. She opened her arms wide, inviting that promised hug.

"You just told me to STOP apologizing!" she exclaimed.

Lars hugged her back, pulling her up as he buried his face against her head. They let the embrace linger, unspoken feelings expressed in a single gesture. Sadie's heart raced with excitement, the proverbial clouds parting.

They pulled apart, but Lars set his forehead on Sadies, his eyes closed. Sadie could feel his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't… something like whatever it was that happened… it can't happen again. Don't sleep like that again." he muttered.

"Maybe I won't let it happen if you stop napping at work." Sadie retorted.

"Haha, I'm not sure if can make that deal-"

"Lars!" Sadie cried, pulling away and crossing her arms in mock outrage.

"What?" He smiled. His adorable face was beat red. He set an arm on the counter, continuing to smile at her like an idiot.

Sadie leaned across the counter towards him, completely forgetting that she was at work, returning to the shade of that tree in the hazy dream world.

"We have to take _turns_ napping. So one of us always has the other's back." Sadie suggested.

Lars nodded. "Actually," he sighed. "That's not a bad idea. But you always have to remember to wake up."

"I will," Sadie replied, leaning into his shoulder, "Because if I need you, you'll be there to wake me."

Lars inched his fingers closer to her hand, and she happily took the bait, relishing in the reassuring pressure of his fingers.

 _He cares about me. We fought our way out of that nightmare TOGETHER._

This was almost like that nice dream she had about Lars; in the nightmare. Only this time it was impossibly real.

 _Could it last?_

Sadie found that she didn't care much for worrying. She was going to be where she was. The future could wait.

Surely, more nightmares awaited them both. But they would never have to face them alone.


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue** **: First Third: Steven**

At long last, the Beach City Parade was here!

Steven grabbed a handful of off-brand candy as Ronaldo generously rained the sugary goodness down on his head from his families Beach Citywalk Fries float.

"Ugh, Steven." Connie laughed. "This is really cheap candy."

"I know!" Steven replied with a mouthful of Smershey's bar. "It's great. Look, he threw in some fries with it!"

Connie screwed up her face and gingerly touched her tongue to a Dumb Dum pop. "That doesn't make it better."

The air was filled music and laughter, the entire population of the town enjoying the parade that was happening despite being destroyed and postponed multiple times. Steven had personally asked Mayor Dewy to make it happen once the storm of the "Nightmare Incident" had passed over.

He craned his neck over a portable fence to glimpse the coming floats, the majority of them food themed.

"There it is! It's the Mayor's float!"

Steven and Connie strained to get a good look.

"Can you see her?" Connie asked, but they had a few seconds before they could.

"Sadie! Sadie! Whoooohooo!" Steven yelled.

He saw the Mayor first, his smile looking a tad forced as he waved to onlookers. His two bodyguards standing by discretely, arms behind their backs. The float featured a huge plastic Mayor Dewy head and Beach City flags around the sides.

But the person Steven and Connie where looking for was standing behind the Mayor, looking slightly overcome but still very happy.

"That's so cool." Steven breathed. "She's on the biggest float of all…"

He heard cheers for his friend go up as the float crept by. Sadie had become something of a local hero, seemingly rising from the dead after falling into a deep and mysterious "coma."

"She still looks so much better!" Connie muttered, noting that Sadie's wrapped left arm, numerous bandages, and broken leg had all been erased by time.

Steven popped more chocolates into his mouth as Sadie suddenly got excited, gesturing to the Mayor and his cohorts. She pointed to the crowd, waving her arm in an urgent "come on!"

"What?!" Steven yowled. "Why didn't she ask ME to get on?" Connie replied with a good natured laugh.

They watched as Lars, blushing and gritting his teeth, scrambled unto the float as Sour Cream, Buck, and Jenny pushed him up. He stumbled over to Sadie, who tentatively reached for her friends hand. Lars gave her a distracted glance, and Steven read his lips as he whined _"Why are you doing this to me?"_

She grabbed his arm and raised it up, smiling wide. The crowd replied, cheering happily. Lars looked ready to sink into the float and continue into the core of the earth, where he would melt into pure embarrassment. But after a few seconds in the limelight he seemed to relax, laughing as he spoke with Sadie.

"Lars! Woohoo!" Steven called, and he gasped as Lars caught his eyes, scowling but waving. Sadie noticed, and called to him.

"STEVEN! You rock!"

Steven blushed; feeling as if a celebrity was praising him.

"Don't you talk to her like every day?" Connie laughed.

"Ya but… she's _on a float_." Steven countered. "Ohhh! Yes, yes!"

Steven was bursting with excitement as he saw that Sadie was inviting him on too! Lars was reluctantly stepping forward to grab his hand! _No way!?_

"Connie!" he cried out to his friend as she helped him unto the float. "I'm on a floooooat!"

He jumped about, waving and grinning and cheering as he gazed across the (modest) sea of onlookers.

"HELLOOO Beach City!" He yelled, finding boundless joy in seeing the town whole once more.

Standing next to Lars, Sadie, and the Mayor, Steven was in awe of how bright the day seemed. Only a few weeks ago, his hometown had been silenced by a terrible nightmare. But they had brought life back into Beach City by working together. Steven, the gems, and his human friends had protected the Earth, just like his mom would have wanted.

 **Epilogue** **: Second Third: Pearl**

Pearl stood in the Burning Room, waving her spear as she used heat to cement the last rocks together for the repair effort. The last light of day was smothered as she finished the job at last, the temple secure again.

She, Garnet, and Amethyst (when she felt like it) had worked hastily to fill the hole, fearing it left them vulnerable to attacks from corrupted gems… or worse, the homeworld gems. Even Steven pitched in, but he was at that silly parade right now.

"There." She said, brushing her hands together in satisfaction. "That's one more problem out of the way."

"Wooooo, that sucked." Amethyst drawled.

Pearl turned around to see Garnet studying a bubble; but with those glasses Pearl couldn't read her expression. She could, however, see the gem shards that floated inside Garnet's bubble. Six blue-green shards of Dioptase, separated and floating free.

"She is a genuinely horrible individual…" Pearl observed, "But what she did was rather… impressive."

Pearl heard Amethyst give a derisive snort on the other side of the room.

"I don't think she's the one we should be admiring, really." Garnet said. "Those humans are the truly impressive ones."

Pearl placed a hand on her chin, considering Garnet's words. This disaster had occurred because of gem-human interaction but… it had also ended because of the human's efforts to defeat Dioptase.

She nodded silently to Garnet.

Pearl had seen humans cower from each other, other animals, and gem monsters alike for centuries upon centuries. The gems had always rushed forward to defend them, as Rose Quartz had taught them to observe the humans and see that Earth was worth fighting for.

Pearl had learned the honorable art of knighthood from humans, and she watched as they struggled to adapt to their world even with such frail bodies and short lifespans. While she had admired their spirit, she had admittedly never considered them as equals.

She sighed. "I… I never know enough. I can't help but take some responsibility for this. People got hurt."

"It turned out alright" Garnet said, stoic as always.

After a pause, Pearl continued voicing her thoughts.

"Maybe… maybe Rose always understood that humans can accomplish just as much," she sighed, "or even more, then gems." Pearl considered, her heart heavy.

Garnet nodded.

Pearl recalled how those young human had fought Dioptase, inside and out. Half of the battle had been invisible to the gems.

"I wasn't even sure if that human would even survive being separated from Dioptase. But she's not only alive, she's doing fine. I would say we are clear of any more threats from Dioptase but… with all the unexpected, unprecedented events that have been happening…" Pearl spoke nervously.

Amethyst shuffled into the conversation. "We'll keep an eye that human. She's tough anyway. My votes goes to her living a long human life of 100 years. What'ya say Garnet, amiright?"

Garnet shrugged. "You know I can't see that far into the future."

Pearl studied her reflection in the bubble, the remains of Dioptase interrupting her distorted features as they drifted about aimlessly.

"Maybe it's better that there is still so much we don't know."

 **Chapter 15: Last Third: Dioptase**

She was scattered once again, her world broken into shards. She waited, eternities apart.

Hate.

Failure.

Isolation.

Without something else to witness her, she did not exist. A simple sound that never echoed back. A light without contrasting darkness.

Despair.

She could never be the creator. She could rearrange the pieces all she wanted; take it apart, rebuild and rename the hallucinations of others into the depths of eternity.

But would she ever conceive of a unique symbol? What good was being able to bear witness to the worlds of all others if her own world was…

 _…nothing more than a pristine mimic._

She lamented into the darkness, shouting out the assertion that she, Dioptase, had never possessed any unique worth and never would.

Nothing called back, and her last concrete sensation was that of doubt.


End file.
